The Raccoon and the Tigress (Continuation)
by imerik001
Summary: After encountering Sly disguised at Rajan's palace while undercover and sharing a rather delightful dance...Neyla develops feeling for the raccoon and decides to help and join his team. Though Bentley and Murray are wary of the unexpected newcomer...there is only on question on their mind...can Neyla be trusted to be part of their team?
1. It Takes Two to Tango

Chapter 1: It takes two to tango

 **I'm not actually sure what this story will become but since neither of my other stories is progressing I have to try something else. I originally planned this as a ones hot but I've started to doubt that it'll be one but we'll see...**

Neyla was getting ready for the ball in her hotel room. She was looking over the outfit Carmelita had brought her.

 _"Disgusting"_ she thought but put it on nonetheless. She didn't even want to look in the mirror.

Neyla had never been the one for fancy gatherings and partying, in fact this was her first time ever to get to a real fancy ball.

 _"I bet it's going to be boring"_

She sighed heavily as a person that would've made the party much more interesting popped into her head. It was a certain raccoon thief. The tigress imagined how it would be to go to the ball together with Sly Cooper, dance a little, have fun, get a little drunk, come back to the hotel...

Neyla blushed at where her thoughts were going.

 _"No! Stop thinking about him like that. He's just another person you'll have to double-cross and besides he has already fallen for Old Ironsides"_

"Ugh! I hate this. What is with him that makes me feel like this?" she questioned out loud.

Neyla had never felt like this about anyone and it bothered her.

 _"How does he do_ _it?"_

But before she could sink any father in the abyss of her mixed feelings about the raccoon, a knock came from her door.

 _"What now?"_

"Neyla, are you ready to go?" came Carmelita's voice.

"As ready as you can be for this" she muttered to herself when walking to the door.

"Neyla!" Carmelita shouted more demanding this time.

The tigress flung the door open and glared at the vixen standing behind it. She was wearing a long, black dress that hugged her forms nicely.

 _"She picked these outfits on purpose. Bitch!"_

"If I don't answer in ten seconds that doesn't mean you need to start shouting" Neyla said angrily.

"It could've been an emergency"

"If it had been an emergency you would've kicked the door without even bothering to knock"

"Just shut up and get going. The Contessa is waiting"

Carmelita then turned and headed for the elevator and after a moment of pondering whether take the stairs or the elevator with Carmelita, she decided to follow after the vixen. They stood before the doors waiting for the elevator to arrive. Soon there was a _"ding"_ and the two cops stepped into the elevator.

"You should've done something to your hair" Carmelita said critically.

"Whatever" Neyla said dismissively.

"Need I remind you that we'll supposed to look like we belong there"

Neyla could practically feel Carmelita's temper rising.

"And you think we don't?" she asked quirking a brow.

"At least one of us does" Carmelita muttered.

"You're right, that dress does make you look little fat"

"What!? What did you say?" Carmelita growled.

Before Neyla could answer there was a new ding and the elevator door slid open revealing the Contessa standing in the lobby looking impatient.

"It's about time" the spider said.

Neyla noticed that she hadn't bothered changing her attire anyhow.

"I'm sorry ma'am" Carmelita immediately apologized while Neyla just rolled her eyes.

"Let's go"

The trio walked outside and straight into the cab waiting for them. No one said anything not even the driver, apparently he knew where they were going. It was menacingly hot evening and it wasn't any better in the car. They drove for about twenty minutes before the driver pulled up in front of a palace. (Yeah, it's located a little differently than in the game)

Neyla couldn't help but to admire it. She had of course studied the whole layout of the palace but to actually see it in person was completely another thing.

"WoW" she whispered.

Next to her Carmelita looked just as impressed.

"It's beautiful" the vixen whispered.

"Very" the Contessa said not even sparing a look at the palace, "Let's move"

They walked up to the large double door. The Contessa knocked and soon the door was opened by a monkey butler.

"An invitation?" he said extending his hand.

The Contessa handed the monkey three invitations and didn't even bother to stay and wait until he had confirmed them. Neyla followed her and Carmelita stood there for a brief moment and then shrugged to herself and followed after the two. Meanwhile the Contessa and Neyla had already reached the large ballroom. It was already full of other guests. There was a band on a stage, a dancefloor and a bar.

"Be alert" The Contessa said and then disappeared in the crowd.

Suddenly Carmelita appeared behind Neyla.

"Where did she go?" she asked.

"She didn't say" Neyla answered, "What are we supposed to do now?"

"Just watch for anything suspicious" Carmelita said before strolling off.

Neyla just huffed and decided to look around for starters. She circled around the ballroom ignoring the other Klaww Gang members and some occasional attempted pathetic advances. Once Neyla had returned to the point she had started she quickly looked around and saw Carmelita stand on the edge of the dance floor near the statue with the Clockwerk wings. Neyla took a moment to admire the wings but soon got bored and with nothing better to do she headed for the bar and ordered a glass of red wine. She sat down to a table with a good view over the whole room. After a long moment of sitting and sipping the wine Neyla happened to glance at the entrance where a raccoon in a tuxedo had just entered. Seeing him almost made Neyla drop her now empty glass which she was still holding.

 _"It can't_ _be..."_

The raccoon noticed her looking at him and smiled. He started to make his way towards Neyla's table. She looked at him the whole time until he was just in front of her.

"Constable Neyla, you look lovely this evening" he said in a suave voice, wearing a charming smile.

"Do I know you" she asked a little shyly, blushing lightly. There was something about this stranger.

"I used to chase after you back in Paris" the raccoon replied with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Paris...? Sly Cooper? What are you doing here?" Neyla asked already knowing the answer.

 _"Well, duh... what do you think_ Sly Cooper's _doing here?"_ she mentally facepalmed.

"Oh, I just heard about this this fancy ball and thought that I might find you here" he replied.

It wasn't the truth and Neyla knew it but she still couldn't help the little happy feeling from spreading inside her.

"Did you now?" she asked quirking a brow, "And the Clockwerk wings had no impact on your decision?"

"What? Clockwerk wings? Here? Bentley said nothing about them" Sly answered smirking.

Neyla smiled in response.

Then a tango started playing and Sly's smirk widened.

"Shall we?" he asked extending his hand for her.

Neyla's smile widened as she took his hand and let the raccoon lead her to the dancefloor. All the while there was a small part of her brain that chastised her for behaving like a schoolgirl with a crush.

 _"He makes it so hard not to"_ Neyla said back as she positioned herself correctly for a tango.

They began with a basic forward steps and slowly started adding spins, stomps and a graceful dip every now and then. As they danced Sly and Neyla never broke their eye contact and as she gazed at Sly's chocolate brown eyes she couldn't help but to think how handsome Sly really was. All she wanted to do was to close the small distance between them and kiss him square on the lips. But alas the tango was nearing it's end and Sly finished it with the most graceful of dips.

The crowd exploded into applause and Sly and Neyla remained in the same position. Suddenly Sly moved forwards and pressed his lips against hers in a brief kiss. Neyla was so surprised that she was unable to do anything but to stare at Sly with a slightly dreamy smile. She had butterflies in her stomach and her heart was beating like crazy. Finally Sly lifted them up and lead back to their table. Meanwhile Neyla had recovered and was now thinking.

 _"He kissed you! You! YOU!"_ she shouted mentally, _"But... why? He can't like me, can he? He has a thing for Carmelita"_

"Neyla?"

 _"Speak of the Devil..."_ the tigress thought bitterly.

She turned to look at Carmelita.

"Yes?"

"I just couldn't help but to notice your dance. Your friend here is quite the accomplished dancer" Carmelita said in an odd tone.

 _"Wait... is she.._ _flirting!?"_ Neyla thought incredulously.

"I tried to make him look good"

Sly chuckled.

"Please, Neyla. His skills far surpass yours" Carmelita said a little disdainfully.

 _"Bitch!"_

"Perhaps we could dance later Mr...?" she suggested.

 _"That's it then"_ Neyla thought bitterly, _"He's gonna run back to Carmelita"_

She felt like she was going to cry but what Sly said next stopped her:

"As lovely as that sounds I'm afraid that I cannot leave my date"

Neyla noticed that Sly didn't use the charming tone he used to with the vixen. Now it was just polite but not anyhow charming.

Carmelita looked dumbfounded but before she could say anything Neyla cut in: "Was that all?"

Carmelita cast a dirty look at the tigress but said nothing and left. As soon as Carmelita had disappeared into the crowd Neyla threw herself at Sly and hugged him.

"Thank you" she whispered.

"What? Did you think I'd leave you just like that?" Sly asked.

"I... I wasn't sure" Neyla said looking away.

"Are you now?" Sly asked as he turned Neyla's face to face his.

"I am" she answered and pulled Sly closer to a kiss.

Sly was only little surprised that Neyla had kissed him and soon returned her affection. Neyla loved the feeling of Sly's lips on hers and she didn't want it to end but suddenly Sly broke the kiss and seemed to listen to something.

"What is it?" Neyla asked.

"I need to go" he answered, "I have some work to do"

"Do you have to?"

"Unfortunately, yes. But don't worry I'll come to see you later"

Then he pressed a quick kiss on her cheek and disappeared into the crowd. Neyla was about to sit back down but...

"Neyla, a word"

 **Ok, I have decided that this won't be a oneshot and this might actually become a longer story. Review and stuff...**


	2. After the Dance

Chapter 2: After the dance

 **I just discussed about this story with Wolvehulk and we have decided to make this longer story, so this won't be just a two shot. We hope you enjoy! I also noticed a few typos in the last chapter. I'm sorry for them, but it was about 4.00 am when I finished the chapter. I've tried to correct them. And also thanks for everyone for who has followed and favorited me!**

"Neyla,, a word." Called a green and yellow parrot from his birdcage machine.

Neyla let out a sigh and followed the parrot to a balcony.

"Yes, what is it, Arpeggio?" She asked already guessing what the parrot was going to say.

"Who was that raccoon you were dancing with?" Arpeggio asked strictly.

"An acquaintance, nothing serious." Neyla replied nonchalantly.

Fortunately for Neyla, Arpeggio had only seen their dance and not what happened afterwards with Carmelita.

"It seemed to be a bit more than that."

Neyla snorted.

"Need I remind you that we are here on important business and you mustn't let your feelings interfere?"

"You don't need to remind me of why we are here."

"See, that I don't". Arpeggio said threateningly and "drove" away in this birdcage.

Neyla waited for the parrot to exit the balcony and after she was sure that he hadn't decided to stay and see what she'd do next (Arpeggio had done this before) Neyla jumped to the nearest rooftop and fished a small tracking device from her purse.

"Where are you, Sly?" she said frowning and trying to locate the tracker she'd attached to Sly's hat. (Don't ask me how. She has somehow managed it)

Sly was casually strolling along the rooftops towards the hideout. He wasn't in a hurry because he knew Bentley was going to hold another presentation and the raccoon preferred to look back at his and Neyla's dance.

 _'She's really something.'_ Sly thought with a big smile.

Suddenly his earpiece crackled.

 _"Sly? Where are you? We're waiting for you here!" A_ nasally voice asked, clearly annoyed!

Sly rolled his eyes and replied: "I'm on my way."

He broke into a run, jumped down from the palace wall, avoided the elephant that was circling near the hideout entrance and run up the stairs to the gang's hideout.

"It's about time." The nasally voice berated Sly as soon as he entered.

"Keep your shell on, Bent. There's no hurry." Sly tried to calm his turtle friend.

"Sly, we're thieves. We're always in a hurry!" Bentley threw back.

"Not me." Sly proclaimed as he slumped into a chair behind Bentley's projector.

Bentley just rolled his eyes and started the presentation:

"Okay, guys, we're ready for phase two of our plan. To get to the Clockwerk Wings we need to use the electric winch above the statue. To get control over the device I need to hack Rajan's main terminal in his boardroom and also to detach the wings from the statue, we're gonna need an extra sharp saw blade. For a blade that durable, I need Sly to steal the jewels from the headdresses of Rajan's price-elephants. Finally I will take my RC-chopper and disable the palace's aerial defense. After this we're ready for the big job."

Bentley turned off the projector and turned to look at Sly.

"Sly, a word."

Sly raised a brow in question but followed Bentley outside.

Once they were outside Sly turned to Bentley.

"So, what is it, Bentley?"

"What's going on between you and Neyla?" Bentley asked. (BTW Bentley's not accusing him right now. He's just inquiring)

"I'm... not sure yet." Sly answered little avoidingly.

"What about Carmelita?" Bentley asked seeming slightly surprised.

"I don't know, Bentley" Sly sighed, "I don't know..."

Bentley offered a smile.

"You'll figure it out, Sly. I'm sure of it"

"Yeah" Sly said and turned to return to the hideout.

Meanwhile Neyla had been following the tracking signal through the palace area and over the wall to the little woods outside of the palace. She was hopping along the tree branches and from tree to tree until she noticed a turtle talking to a raccoon dressed in blue.

Neyla started descending from the tree when she heard them talking:

"Yeah." Sly said.

Then there was a moment of silence and suddenly the turtle spoke:

"By the way, will you dance with Neyla or Carmelita during the big job?"

Neyla almost fell from the branch she was standing on. She stopped her descent and listened to what Sly was about to say.

"With Neyla, of course." Sly said almost immediately.

"Ok. I'll change that part of the plan." Bentley nodded.

Neyla let out a breath she didn't even notice she was holding and continued her her descent.

"Sly!" Neyla exclaimed as she hit the ground.

Sly and Bentley quickly turned around too look at the tigress.

"Constable Neyla!" Bentley exclaimed, looking a little panicked, "How did you find us?"

Only then did Sly realized that Neyla wasn't supposed to know where their hideout was located.

"Yeah, Neyla. How exactly did you find us?" Sly asked.

"Um... I might have slipped a tracker into Sly's hat..." Neyla answered smiling a little.

"What?!" Bentley asked and jumped as high as he could and scooped Sly's hat from his head.

He inspected the hat and pulled out a tracker.

"Hidden in the lining." Bentley sneered, "Very clever."

Before Neyla could answer Sly caught his hat with his cane from Bentley and said: "Bentley could you leave us?"

Bentley smiled and quickly went back into the hideout and Sly walked to Neyla.

"Did you hear what we talked about?" he asked.

"Bentley asked if you wanted to dance with Carmelita or with me during 'the big job'"

Sly let out an inward sigh of relief. He really wouldn't have wanted Neyla to hear what he discussed with Bentley.

"Why did you come?" Sly asked, curious.

"I came to see you and also I though about some things..." she answered.

"What things?"

"Well, about... _us._ " She wasn't yet used to the sound of it, but liked it, "And about me being a cop and you being a thief"

Now Sly was getting a little worried. What did Neyla think about that?

"And?" He whispered leaning closer.

"I've never wanted to be a cop. I was given a choice: Be arrested or become a cop." Neyla told him, "And now I was thinking if... I could come with you."

Sly was taken aback by this sudden proposal, but started thinking about it.

"Are you sure, Neyla?"

"I am, Sly" She answered and leaned closer and gave Sly a quick peck on the lips.

"I need to get back before Carmelita notices I'm gone."

"OK. We'll dance during the big job, my beautiful tigress" Sly called after her.

"I'm looking forward to it, Ringtail" She called back.

Sly chuckled at the nickname. He returned to the hideout.

"OK, Bentley. What's next?"

Neyla was in a hurry to return to the ball. She was already worrying that one of her three "supervisors" had noticed her absence. She ran through the palace area and climbed back to the same balcony and went inside. Neyla quickly surveyed the area. Arpeggio was talking with Jean Bison, the Contessa was nowhere to be seen and Carmelita was sitting in the bar. Neyla decided to go talk to her even though she knew Carmelita wouldn't be a merry interlocutor.

"Hi, Carmy" She chirped and then noticed the empty glasses on Carmelita's table, "How much have you drunk?"

"None of your damn business" The vixen slurred.

"Aww, you didn't take to drink because you couldn't get my date?" Neyla taunted.

She couldn't help but to feel satisfied when the vixen got up and took a swing at her, but missed due to all the alcohol she'd already consumed. Neyla watched as Carmelita tripped on her own feet and collapsed to the ground.

"Was that really necessary?" Came a cold and emotionless voice from behind the tigress.

Neyla turned around and saw the Contessa standing uncomfortably close to her.

"It was payback. I'm sure you can understand that." Neyla answered cocking a brow.

"Just get her to a cab and take back to the hotel." The Contessa ordered.

"Must I?" Neyla grumbled.

"Yes, C _onstable._ "

Neyla cast a sour look at the Contessa's retreating back and then turned her gaze at the passed out vixen at her feet. She let out a sigh of resignation and picked Carmelita up from the floor and started dragging her towards the door. Once outside she took a cab, laid the unconscious Carmelita to the backseat and gave the driver directions to their hotel. On the way Carmelita started to snore rather loudly and Neyla had hard time stifling her laugh. When they finally arrived at the hotel Neyla paid their ride with money taken from Carmelita. She lifted the vixen from the backseat and carried her through the hotel's lobby and into the elevator.

 _"She's really heavy!"_ Neyla thought panting lightly.

As soon as the door opened with _"ding"_ she once again picked up Carmelita and dragged her to her room and carelessly dropped her onto the bed.

 _"Finally."_ Neyla thought, casting a last disdainful look at the vixen.

She went to her room and collapsed to the bed thinking about Sly, their dance and the kiss. Neyla let these lovely memories lull her to sleep.

Neyla had fallen asleep and was sleeping soundly when her rooms window slid open and a lithe form slipped in. It was of course none other than Sly Cooper, who now made his way next to the bed and laid eyes upon the sleeping tigress.

He lifted a hand to softly caress her cheek.

"Sweet dreams, my beautiful tigress" he whispered and pressed a light kiss on her forehead before climbing out of the window and disappearing into the night.


	3. OP: Hippo Drop

Chapter 3: OP Hippo Drop

Neyla was standing in her hotel room. Again looking loathingly at the dress she was forced to wear to the ball. The only consolation she had was the raccoon shaped calling card that had been left on her nightstand during the day when she was away.

 _"We're ready for the final operation, my love. Keep an eye out for me. P.S could you do something to incapacitate our mutual inspector friend?" It_ read.

Neyla laughed at the post scriptum, Carmelita didn't need any incapacitating. She had drunk so much last night that was terribly hungover. The Contessa had been notified of the vixen's current state (by Neyla...) and she had spent good two hours admonishing her in her room.

 _'Serves her right.' S_ he thought.

Neyla on the other hand was really looking forward to share another dance with the raccoon of her dreams. She quickly got dressed and headed to the lobby where the Contessa was waiting.

Neyla stepped out from the elevator and at the same the Contessa's menacing red eyes locked with hers. She held her gaze not wanting to be the one to break the eye contact. The Contessa kept up her stare until Neyla was standing right in front of her.

"Are we going?" she asked.

The Contessa didn't say anything, just turned and went to get them a cab. Neyla watched for a minute and then followed the spider.

I'm just gonna skip straight into the ballroom...

"Be alert" the Contessa said and disappeared into the ground.

Neyla huffed and scanned the area for the other Klaww Gang members. Rajan was sitting on his throne, the Contessa had disappeared, Jean Bison was on the upper floor pacing around ("Probably keeping blood in his brains" Neyla thought) and Arpeggio was nowhere to be seen.

 _"Probably for the best..."_ Neyla thought.

Just like last night, with nothing else to do, she went to sit in the bar waiting for Sly to appear.

Sly was sitting in the hideout wearing his tuxedo and waiting for Bentley to start blowing up the bridge.

 _"Okay, Sly, I'm on position." I_ nformed his turtle friend's nasally voice announced.

"Ok, Bentley. I'll head off to the ballroom." Sly answered.

 _"Remember, wait until the guards have left the ballroom. Do not take action before that."_ Bentley said strictly.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." He said, hanging up.

Sly got up and headed outside. He made his way to the palace along the rooftops and knocked on the door.

"Ah, back for some more dancing 'sir'?" the doorman asked.

"Yes." Sly curtly replied.

The door swung open and Sly strolled in. Just as he was about to enter the ballroom his earpiece crackled:

 _"The bridge is down. Are you and Murray in position?"_ Bentley informed.

(By the way, has anyone ever thought the fact that Bentley stayed on the wrong side when the bridge collapsed. He was on the same side as the guest house and from what I could gather the bridge was the only way to and from the guest house. How did he get back to the van? I doubt his RC-chopper carried him. Just a little thought I wanted to share...)

"I'm ready." Sly said, "How about you Murray?"

 _"I'm pumped!"_

"Ok"

 _'Time for another dance with, my beautiful tigress.'_ Sly thought smiling.

And with those thoughts he entered the ballroom.

Neyla was still sitting in the bar. She had kept a close eye out for Sly, but also for Arpeggio. There had been no sign of him in the whole evening, a fact, of which Neyla was happy.

"Good evening, my sweet. Are you ready for our dance?" Came a suave voice from behind her.

Neyla looked up only to meet a pair of chocolate brown eyes staring back at her.

"I was getting worried something had gone wrong with your plan." She said, getting up.

"Nothing could keep me from you." Sly said, his eyes shining with love.

"I know." Neyla replied, wrapping her arms around him.

They stared into each other's eyes. Sly started to lean in, but from the corner of her eye Neyla saw the Contessa. She was walking on the upper floor, where there was a good view over the whole room. She wasn't watching their direction, but Neyla didn't want to risk it.

"Sly" she said, gesturing to the upper floor, "Don't"

"Hmh?" he followed her gaze and saw the Contessa.

"Ah, the Contessa. You're here with her?" Sly (reluctantly) let go of the tigress.

"Yes." she said grudgingly, "Unfortunately."

"You're not fond of her?" Sly asked, glancing her sideways.

"Not exactly, no."

They looked at the Contessa carefully and waited until she was gone again.

"Now, shall we dance?" Sly asked, when he was sure that the Contessa was gone.

And as of on cue a tango began playing.

"We shall, Ringtail." Neyla answered smiling.

They walked to the dance floor. Apparently the pair was remembered from last night, because as they entered the whole floor emptied as the people gave them space.

"It seems we got a few admirers from last night." Sly said smirking.

Neyla smiled and they took the position.

The dance began. Neyla was again mesmerized. It felt just as lovely as last night. Sly was in every spin and dip looking deep into her eyes. The song was the same as last night, but Sly did the dance differently and Neyla did nothing, but followed his lead. She had always thought herself as a decent dancer, but Sly _really_ knew what he was doing. Like last time Sly ended the dance in a graceful dip.

"I love you, Sly."

"I love you too, Neyla."

Suddenly Neyla drew Sly down into a kiss. The crowd applauded loudly at them.

"THE WINGS! WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CLOCKWERK WINGS?!"

Everyone turned to look at Rajan who was staring at the statue to which the wings had been attached only moment ago.

"That's my cue." Sly said, "I need to go."

"Wait, Sly." Neyla said grabbing her arm.

He looked at her questioningly.

"I'm coming with you,"

Sly looked at her for a moment and then grinned.

"Let's go then." he said taking her hand.

They ran from the ballroom and made their way to the Cooper Gang van. Bentley was already there waiting (no idea how he got there).

"Sly good you're..." Bentley's eyes widened as he saw Neyla.

"Sly!? What's she doing here?"

"She's coming with us, Bentley." Sly stated with a voice that left no place for argument.

"Give me a hand with these, guys!" Murray shouted from outside.

Sly went to grab the first wing and haul it into the van, Neyla came to help him and together they managed to get both of the wings into the van.(the wings are way bigger than the van but physics doesn't always apply so I think we can make an exception)

"Um... Hello, constable Neyla." Murray said a little uneasily.

"Let's get out of here! Step on it Murray!" Sly shouted.

Neyla and Sly sat in the back holding on to each other.

 **I hope you liked the chapter. Review and stuff...**


	4. Bollywood

Chapter 4: Bollywood

The Cooper Gang is now driving towards Bollywood. Sly and Neyla are in the back and Bentley is sitting on Sly's usual spot on the front seat. They have gotten Neyla's things from her hotel at some point. (Don't ask, they just have)

At the same night...

"Sly, do you mind explaining?" Bentley asked in mild panic!

He was gesturing to Neyla, who was asleep in Sly's arms.

"She is coming with us Bentley" Sly answered calmly.

"WHY!" The turtle exclaimed.

"Shh, don't wake her... Look, can we talk about this later?" Sly asked, clearly irritated.

"What if she arrests us? What will we do when our hideout is surrounded by Interpol tanks and choppers?" Bentley asked lowering his voice, but still sounding panicked.

"Neyla won't arrest us. Why would she, she has no reason to." Sly reasoned.

"What do you mean?" Bentley asked frowning.

"She's not like Carmelita. She can't even begin to compare with Neyla." Sly said as he looked at the sleeping tigress and smiled.

"What's your point, Sly?" Bentley asked in slight aggravation.

"What?" Sly blinked.

"What do you mean 'she has no reason to arrest us'?"

"As I said: She is not like Carmelita. Neyla doesn't see the world in black and white like she does and besides Neyla was practically forced to join Interpol. QED she won't arrest us." Sly continued reasoning.

Bentley considered for a moment.

"Fine...she can come with us, but I'll keep my eyes on her." Bentley said and dropped the subject.

A moment passed, Sly felt a light kiss press onto his chin. He looked down just in time to see Neyla lay her head back against his chest.

"Thank you." She whispered.

She'd been listening to the whole conversation.

"Anything for you, Neyla." Sly whispered back and kissed her forehead.

About two hours later they were in Bollywood and Bentley was (illegally) getting them rooms from a five star hotel. Sly had told Bentley to "book" him and Neyla separate room that was _not_ next to Murray and Bentley's room. He had just rolled his eyes, but did as Sly asked.

"Ok, here's our hotel!" Murray announced.

Bentley and Murray jumped out and stretched a little after the long drive.

In the van Sly was waking Neyla up.

He nuzzled her face and whispered: "Neyla."

The tigress stirred a little, turned her head to face Sly and opened her eyes.

"Good morning, my beautiful tigress."

Neyla didn't bother to answer, but rather pulled Sly into a kiss, which he didn't refuse.

"We should probably go." Sly said once they separated.

"Aww, do we have to?" She pouted.

"Yeah, I think we do" He answered, caressing her cheek, "But don't worry, you don't need to move anywhere." Sly smirked.

"What do you..." Neyla was about to ask, but didn't when she felt Sly place his arms under her and lifting her up, bridal style (naturally).

She was surprised for a moment, but then giggled and wrapped her arms around Sly's neck and leaned her head on his shoulder. He jumped down from the van and joined his friends.

Once Bentley saw them he frowned. Sly noticed this and raised a brow at him, to which he shook his head and turned around to go into the hotel. They made their way to the hotel lobby. It was empty, except for the receptionist behind the counter.

"Excuse me, I believe we have a reservation under the name 'Copper'" Bentley told her.

"Just a moment" The receptionist responded and turned to the computer, "Ah, here it is. Two suites, numbers 328 and 593. Here are the keys, please enjoy your stay." She said handing Bentley the keys.

"Thank you." Bentley said, returning the smile.

He turned to Sly and handed him the keys. Neyla took them, though and returned her hand onto Sly's neck. They walked to the elevator and began their ascent to the upper floors.

"Are you planning on carrying me all the way to our room, Sly?" Neyla asked quietly.

"Well, you're not that heavy... so, yeah, I am." he answered smirking.

She giggled little at his answer and leant further into him.

Bentley sighed and rolled his eyes.

"That you, Bentley?" Neyla asked in slightly intimidating voice.

He gulped and answered: "N-No, just the... er... air conditioning"

"Good."

Sly looked between the two for a second and then burst into laughter.

"It's not funny, Sly!" Bentley exclaimed in an exasperated tone!

"It's hilarious!" Sly laughed!

Neyla too laughed a little to the whole situation and even Murray let out a chuckle, but Bentley's face stayed like stone. Expressionless and void of any emotion except for slight disapproval towards everyone else in the elevator. The rest of the ascent was spent in silence and once the elevator let out "ding" the doors slid open and Murray and Bentley stepped out. They left behind Sly's backpack and Neyla's small suitcase.

"You travel rather lightly." she observed, smiling a little.

Sly glanced at his backpack and chuckled.

"That's everything a guy can need." he replied.

Another "ding" sounded.

"How are you gonna get our stuff with me in your arms?" Neyla asked.

"Hmm... Let's see." Sly replied thoughtfully.

He put his foot under the backpack and swung it to the hook of his cane (which is on his back). He then looked at the small suitcase.

"My love, if you could..." Sly gestured to the suitcase.

"Of course." She replied and grabbed the little valise.

The doors slid open with a convenient delay, allowing the pair to have this conversation without the fear of continuing their ascent.

"What was our room number again?" Sly inquired.

"593."

He started their way to the right direction.

"Um, Neyla... I was wondering..."

"Yes?"

"Would you... would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow?"

"Is Sly Cooper asking me on a date?" She asked with a mischievous smile.

Sly blushed, but only a little, _but_ enough for Neyla to notice.

"Well... I guess." The raccoon replied with a sheepish smile and with intensifying blush.

She was silent for a moment, pretending to think it over. Neyla noticed that Sly was getting nervous from the silence and decided not to torment him any longer.

He was about to say something, but was cut of by Neyla's lips on his. His eyes widened and he didn't even react before she pulled away.

"I'd love to, Sly."

The raccoon let out a very audible sigh of relief which made Neyla laugh.

"Did you think I wouldn't say yes?"

"Of course not!" He exclaimed, "I never lost faith in my abilities to woo a lady"

She rolled her eyes.

"As long as you don't do it with anyone else. Remember Ringtail, you're mine now." Neyla declared, with only a small hint of seduction.

Sly just smiled and kissed her again.

"Here's our room." He informed her

Neyla opened the room with the key and Sly carried her inside.

"You can put me down now."

He lowered her onto her feet (somewhat reluctantly...) and she threw herself onto the bed.

"What a night..."

"Yeah..." Sly replied, laying next to her.

She scooted closer to him and brought her arms around his torso and leant her head on his shoulder.

"You're always so warm..."

He chuckled.

"Let's get some sleep, shall we?"

"Mhm" Neyla hummed, "Good night, Sly. I love you."

"Good night, Neyla. I love you too." He whispered to her.

 **Ok, this story has been sort of discontinued for a while, but I'll do my best to get it on again,** ** _BUT_** **I guarantee nothing so don't get your hopes up. The next chapter will be their date and after that I'll probably get to episode three. Also sorry that this is a little short, but I just want to post it so that you'll have something to read at least. Review and stuff...**


	5. The Date

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any of the characters**

 **A/N: Hello everyone. My name is Eric Cortez and I am a good friend of Jjmt. I asked him if I could continue working on TRATT and he agreed to let me continue working on it. So without further delay...here is the fifth chapter where Sly and Neyla go on their first date. Reviews and comments will be appreciated.**

Chapter 5: The Date

Sly and Neyla had remained sleeping on the bed in their suite, both smiling in complete content as they had cuddled close to each, savoring every second of their peaceful and romantic moment. But, alas...it would soon end.

"Sly, it's time to wake up!" Murray shouted as he banged on the closed door to their suite! He had meant to knock softly, but each knock ended being incredibly loud.

"Ugh..." Sly and Neyla softly groaned, as they slowly started to wake up, though a little groggy.

"Morning, my beautiful tigress." Sly greeted Neyla with a bright warm smile as their eyes had immediately locked on to each other.

"Morning, my handsome Ringtail." Neyla, greeted back to Sly, mirroring his tone and smile, while placing a soft gentle kiss on his chest.

"Sly, are you and Neyla up yet?" Murray asked, while continuing to knock on the door and waiting for a response.

"Yes, Murray. Neyla and I are up!" Sly called back and the pink hippo had stopped knocking on the door.

Both Sly and Neyla had shared a loving soft kiss before pulling away and climbing off the bed. They both picked up their personal gear; Sly had slung his backpack over his back and grabbed his cane, while Neyla had picked up her whip and wrapped it around and over her left shoulder. The raccoon had opened the door, greeting his friend.

"What is it Murray?" Sly asked, trying not to sound agitated towards the hippo for breaking up his and Neyla's peaceful rest.

"I'm sorry for waking you and Neyla up, Sly. It's just that Bentley asked me to grab you and Neyla." Murray answered, while rubbing the back on his head, showing he felt guilty for waking Sly and their new friend up so soon.

"What does Bentley need to talk about?" The raccoon asked, while feeling it had something to do with Neyla traveling with them,

"He said it had to with Rajan, but wouldn't say what. When I asked him what he meant, he asked me to get you and Neyla and that he would explain then." The hippo answered, while showing he had no idea what got their friend so riled up.

"It must be serious, for you little turtle friend to rattle both his nerves and shell this badly." Neyla stated and it was enough to earn a small grin from Sly, whom smirked at the remark about Bentley.

"We'd better see what it is Bentley needs to tells us." Her new raccoon boyfriend added, knowing they shouldn't keep their friend and teammate waiting.

The three of them walked down the hallway towards the suite where Murray and Bentley were staying in. Neyla, whom was walking beside Sly, had softly reached for his left hand and the raccoon had gently clasped their hands together. Murray had witnessed them holding hands and couldn't help but smile softly as Sly and Neyla made it rather obvious they were boyfriend/girlfriend now. But Murray was confused, because he thought his raccoon friend had a thing for Inspector Fox.

After entering Suite 328, they witnessed Bentley typing away on the team's Thief Net computer. He also had a map of India on the table with a red ink pen on top of the map.

"Oh, Murray thanks for getting Sly and...Neyla, so we could, uh...talk." Bentley started off a little awkwardly after seeing the tigress standing next to Sly and them holding hands. Both Sly and Neyla rolled their eyes, not believing how paranoid the turtle was being with the tigress in the same room with them.

"What do you need to talk about Bentley?" Sly asked with trying to keep their conversation as civilized as possible.

"We have a problem you guys. After we made off with the Clockwerk Wings and Carmelita started arresting the other guests at the palace, Rajan had managed to escape capture by fleeing into the jungle." Bentley started off, explaining that Rajan had eluded capture after they stole the Wings.

"But what's the problem?" Murray asked, while understanding that the Klaww Gang member they just stole from had fled into the jungle.

"The problem is...I have no idea where Rajan ran off to. That palace he bought was the only asset I could find. If he has another hideout, I have no idea where it is." Their turtle friend and tech support explained as to why he set up this meeting.

"...I know where he's heading." Neyla stated, which earned a surprised expression from Sly and his friends.

"Where would Rajan run off to Neyla?" Sly asked after hearing his tigress say she knew where Rajan would go into hiding.

"In the heart of the Indian jungle...Rajan discovered an ancient temple that had never been discovered. He was able to transform it into the heart of his spice manufacturing operation."

"Neyla...how do you know that?" Bentley asked, sounding even more cautious of the tigress. Even Murray stared surprised to how she knew.

"...It's...it's complicated." Neyla answered, with a look showing she wasn't ready to share her past with Sly and his team.

"Neyla, could you show us where this temple is located?" Sly asked, as he sensed that this subject was making her uncomfortable.

"Of course Sly. I know the way to the temple." The tigress answered, which made Bentley more suspicious of her after hearing Neyla say she knew the way to Rajan's main base of operations.

"Sly...could Murray and I have a word with you in private, say, tomorrow?" Bentley asked, while giving Neyla a look showing he didn't trust her and it earned a glare from the tigress in return.

"Sure, we could talk in private tomorrow." Sly stated, unhappy with Bentley for being paranoid and suspicious of Neyla.

Both Sly and Neyla had stepped out of Murray and Bentley's suite and walked back into their hotel room.

"Neyla...are you okay?" The raccoon asked, concerned if his tigress was hurt by Bentley's attitude towards her.

"I'm alright. Thank you for asking Sly." The tigress answered, while trying to keep the pain she felt bottled up inside.

"I'm sorry about Bentley's attitude, it's just that he can overreact and worry over nothing. I'm going to have a serious talk with him tomorrow, I promise." Sly explained his friend's suspicious attitude towards her.

"It's alright Sly, really. To be honest...I really don't blame him for being wary of me...since he doesn't know anything about me." Neyla assured her raccoon lover, since she was used to people being cautious of her.

"Neyla...I understand that you aren't ready to tell me or my friends anything about your past. I can relate because I have a past that I'm trying to prevent from ever happening again." Sly placed a soft hand on his tigress's delicate cheek and Neyla had softly placed her own hand over Sly's.

"When you're ready to tell us, you'll tell us." The raccoon stated, with a firm but soft tone and warm hearted smile and Neyla smiled in return.

"How about we have dinner here at the hotel for our date, Ringtail?" The tigress asked in a soft and seductive tone, which earned a chuckle from the raccoon,

"Sounds good to me my beautiful tigress." Sly smiled as they leaned in and locked lips in a passionate kiss.

~Later that night ~

Sly and Neyla had changed clothes separately in their hotel room; Sly in the closet and Neyla in the bathroom. Sly had kept the tuxedo he wore back in the palace and decided to keep it, just in case he and Neyla decided to go on an actual date. After discarding his blue shirt and cap, he placed the shirt, jacket, dance shoes, gloves and bow tie on.

Just as Sly had walked out of the closet, that was when Neyla had stepped out of the bathroom. She had changed into the dress she had wore back at the palace and they both chuckled after seeing the other choice of clothes.

"Shall we, my lady?" Sly asked while offering Neyla his hand and his tigress chuckled at his gesture.

"Indeed we shall, Ringtail." Neyla smiled as she accepted his hand and they both walked down the hallway.

Sly had called for the elevator and after they stepped inside, they had pressed the bottom button and went down to the lobby. They had walked down to the banquet hall in the restaurant and requested a table. The maitre'd had led them to a table in the far left corner of the room and placed a menu template for them both to choose and order from.

Sly and Neyla had ordered a platter of Baghari masali roti, a bottle of 1999 Chateau Margaux wine and two wine glasses. They had enjoyed a nice quiet dinner and that was when the banquet room started playing rather romantic dance music. Sly and Neyla smiled at each other as they stepped out from behind their table and walked in the center of the room. They shared a rather romantic dance, just like back in the ballroom. Nearing the end of the song, the ended their dance with a graceful dip and they locked lips in a loving, passionate kiss. The other patron's in the room clapped and whistled at the rather romantic sight.

"I love you Sly Cooper." Neyla whispered as they pulled away, smiling.

"I love you too Neyla." Sly whispered back, smiling in return.

They had returned to their suite and climbed into bed. They shared one last kiss good night and slept, wrapping their arms around to keep them close.

 **A/N: Here is the ending to 5th chapter to TRATT. I would like to apologize to my reviewers for the long wait. I had to really wrap my head around to get it right. I would also like to apologize to my friend Jjmt, for breaking the deal we made, that I would only make each new chapter with only 1000 words. I promise to try to keep it at 1000 during the next future chapters.**


	6. Neyla Reveals Her Past

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any of the characters**

 **Reviews and comments will be appreciated**

 **Chapter 6: Neyla Reveals her Past**

Morning had soon arrived, while both Sly and Neyla were still sleeping, peacefully in their suite. They both enjoyed every second of their romantic dinner date and dance in the banquet room last night. They both went to sleep, with Sly still in his tuxedo disguise, well minus the jacket as he had discarded it on a silver grey leather recliner chair in their room. Neyla had still wore her undercover dress.

Sly and Neyla had hoped to sleep a little bit longer...but unfortunately, they were about to have a repeat from yesterday.

"Sly, Neyla! Wake up!" Murray called out, as he regretfully knocked on their closed door to their room.

"Ughh..." The raccoon groaned as he and Neyla woke up, groaning in annoyance to being woken up prematurely again!

"Why?" Sly groaned softly, with a hint of annoyance detected in his tone of voice!

"This is ridiculous!" Neyla groaned in agreement with her raccoon boyfriend, as they fairly guessed Bentley was behind sending Murray to fetch them again!

"Give us a moment to get changed big guy!" Sly called back and Murray had immediately stopped knocking.

Both Sly and Neyla had shared a soft good morning kiss before pulling away and climbed out of bed. They had changed clothes rather swiftly, Sly discarding the clean white buttoned shirt, gloves and dancing shoes for his trademark clothing in the bathroom and Neyla putting her casual clothes in the closet. The raccoon had opened the door, seeing his friend glancing away to avoid to both his and Neyla's agitated expressions on their faces.

"Yes?" Sly asked, trying not to sound agitated towards the hippo, though it could be obviously detected.

"I'm sorry for waking you and Neyla up like this again, Sly. But Bentley requested another meeting to discuss... a certain 'subject' immediately." Murray explained, whole noticing a small glare on Sly's face at what 'subject' it was their turtle friend needed to discuss.

"We'd better see what Bentley wants this time." Sly stated, while feeling angry towards his turtle friend for referring to his tigress as if she were a thing and not a person.

Both Murray and Neyla could sense the ire in Sly's tone and couldn't help blame him, especially the hippo since he knew Bentley was being more paranoid and uptight ever since Neyla helped them steal the Wings from the palace. They had walked down the hall and entered Murray and Bentley's hotel room and spotted the turtle working behind the breakfast table on his laptop.

"Ah, Murray thanks for getting..." Bentley started before noticing the angry expression on Sly's face as he, Murray and Neyla stepped in.

"So, it's fair to say that you already know what it is we need to discuss Sly." The turtle stated, in a stern tone whist trying not to be intimidated by his friend's angry glare.

"Oh, I have a pretty good..." Sly started to remark angrily, but was cut off by Neyla.

"What is your problem with me Bentley?" Neyla asked, as this was the subject that both she and her raccoon lover demanded to know why the turtle was acting like a jerk ever since she decided to help and join them.

"Look, Neyla..." Bentley started off weakly, as he struggled to explain why he was being so suspicious and wary of her.

"I appreciate that you helped us steal the Clockwerk Wings back at the ball, I really do. It's just that... it's hard for me trust someone without knowing everything about them." The turtle explained softly as to why he acting the way he was towards her.

"Bentley, are you, Sly and Murray really sure you want to know about my past?" Neyla asked softly, as she had a somber look and tone of sadness in her voice.

"Neyla...if you're still not ready to tell us..." Sly stated softly, as he could detect the sadness in his tigress's voice.

"No. If I want to ever earn your friend's trust Sly...they need to know." The tigress replied, while showing she appreciated her raccoon lover's concern.

"I guess for me to start...is from the beginning. I can fairly assume you and your team already know from my personal file at Interpol that I was born in New Delhi and how I grew up poor: with no money, family." Neyla started off softly, with a hunch that Sly and his friend's read her personal file from the computer database at Interpol and they nodded to confirm.

"Well, I was born with a unique gift to read people, how to get inside their heads. I used my skills of persuasion to con my way to attend an expensive British university, one that only wealthy individuals could attend. I had used my skills to form a 'homework ring', where I persuaded other students into doing my home work for me. But unfortunately for me, the university eventually discovered I had conned my way in and immediately called the local authorities. I thought for sure the police would arrest me, but they did something that I didn't expect...they offered me a position to join Interpol. They were impressed with my abilities to read other people: to sense their vulnerabilities and get into their heads, to earn their trust, which was how I formed that ring." The tigress explained as she was born with a unique ability to profile people, reading their strengths, flaws and insecurities to earn their trust.

"During my early years after getting accepted into Interpol and one of my first assignments...I met a parrot named Arpeggio." Neyla revealed that she met the founder and leader of the Klaww Gang years before she met them.

"As in...the same Arpeggio Sly saw at Rajan's party back at the palace?" Bentley asked as he, Murray and Sly were shocked to hear what Neyla just said!

"Yes... and he also saw that I had great potential with my abilities of persuasion and manipulation...that he made me an offer: that he would take me in as his protege." She added, which shocked Sly and his team further!

"Your telling us that you're actually a secret agent of the Klaww Gang?!" Bentley asked in a hectic voice and Murray simply glared, as his fingers curled into fists.

"Don't even think about laying a hand on her Murray!" Sly yelled out, as he stepped in to protect Neyla from his friend!

"Sly, what are you doing?" Murray asked, confused to why his friend and team leader could defend the tigress!

"She just said she's a double agent working for Arpeggio!" The turtle snapped, also baffled to how their friend could defend this woman!

"Just let her explain. Hear her out!" Sly demanded as he pleaded with his friends to at least let Neyla explain!

Both Murray and Bentley had glanced at each other, not sure if they wanted to hear another word from Neyla's mouth. They gave a simple nod, showing they were willing to hear what else the tigress had to say.

"Look, Murray...Bentley...I've done a lot of stuff in the past that I'm not entirely proud of. I had to use my skills as a cop in order to take down high level international criminals. But I also used them to deceive and betray people whom earned my trust, just for my own goals. But it was different when Interpol partnered me up with Carmelita to help her capture you chaps." Neyla stated softly, showing true remorse for the acts she committed in her past just to pull herself out of the gutter.

"At first...I tried to get inside your head's, just like any other mark. But when I first saw and met you back at the museum in Cairo, Sly...I feel in love with you. I thought you still had feelings for ol' Ironside'...but when we shared those two dances back at the ball and when we first kissed...I realized you felt the same way." The tigress explained, as she brought a hand up to Sly's face and the raccoon softly returned the gesture.

"I can help you and your team steal the rest of the Clockwerk parts." Neyla added, showing she really did want to help her raccoon lover and his friends. The only problem was that Bentley and Murray weren't convinced.

"And why should we trust you Neyla?" Bentley demanded, while he and Murray crossed their arms against their chests.

"Because I have something that Arpeggio and the rest of the Klaww Gang never knew about...and I'd like you to have it Bentley." The tigress answered softly as she reached into the right pocket of her shorts and pulled out a flash drive before offering it to the turtle.

"What is on this flash drive?" Bentley asked, as he cautiously accepted the drive and Murray scratched the back of his head, also curious to what it held.

"I always had suspicions Arpeggio would one day no longer have any need of me. So should he ever decided to cut his losses and try to get rid of me...I had an insurance policy, a safety net to bring him and his associates down: history background, psyche profiles, the locations of their main base of operations and whatever parts of the old bird they took for their own plans." Neyla explained and revealed that the flash drive she just gave them had everything they would ever need to take down the Klaww Gang.

"If you and Murray still don't trust me Bentley...I don't blame either of you. I just ask that you chaps and Sly do what you need to take those lowlifes down." The tigress requested, showing she understood if the turtle and hippo still didn't want anything to do with her.

"I trust you Neyla." Murray stated showing he was willing to let her help them.

"What made you change your mind Murray?" Sly asked while Bentley glanced upward surprised that he was willing to trust her.

"If she's willing to trust us enough to give us all the info we need to steal the rest of the Clockwerk parts...then I'm willing to trust her, but only a little bit to let her help us." The hippo answered, explaining why he was willing to risk trusting the tigress.

"Plus...if you trust her Sly, than that's good enough for me." Murray added, concluding his reason.

"Bentley?" The raccoon asked softly, at his friend and tech specialist.

"...I...I guess...I guess I'm willing to go on a little faith." Bentley started out softly, while showing he was still unsure about the tigress.

"I still don't trust you Neyla. But if you really do love Sly and if Murray's willing to trust you, than I guess I'm willing too." The turtle added, showing he was willing to give her a shot.

"But Neyla..." Bentley started off softly.

"...If you even try to set us up or double cross us, you're out of the group." The turtle warned if the tigress had thought about betraying them.

"Bentley..." Sly started a little angry at his friend for threatening his tigress lover.

"No, it's alright Sly." The tigress replied, trying to ease her raccoon lover.

"I promise I won't let you or Murray down, Bentley. I promise you both, you won't regret this." Neyla added, showing she understood and that both Bentley and Murray she would do whatever it took to earn their trust.

"Alright, then. Let's get down to business. Let's make sure we have whatever we need before heading off into the jungle after Rajan." Bentley stated, returning to his calm and serious self, so they would be prepared for another run at the spice dealer.

Sly and his team had spent the last few hours, going over maps of the Indian jungle so they would be familiar of the area and geography, since going deep into the jungle meant leaving behind civilization. They turned in for the night, making sure they would be prepared for the drive and trek planned for tomorrow.

 **A/N: That's the end for the 6th chapter to TRATT. The next few chapters will be the official The Predator Awakens job. Please remember to comment and review. Thank you.**


	7. A Dark and Secret Plot

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any of the characters, except for the OC that will be added to the story**

 **A/N: Hello everyone, I know that I stated on the last chapter to TRATT that the 7th chapter would be The Predator Awakens Job, but I decided to save that for the chapter after this one. I've decided to have Carmelita become a hidden villain later on in the story and will becoming Arpeggio's new protege. She will be replaced with an OC, whom will be a friend of Neyla's.**

 **Reviews and comments will be appreciated**

 **Chapter 7: A Dark and Secret Conspiracy**

It was usually a typical day at the main headquarters of Interpol in France...but it soon became a cold day in Hell after Carmelita had entered and stepped inside the office of her boss and mentor, Inspector James Barkley.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN CONSTABLE NEYLA IS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND?!" The hot tempered badger screamed at the top of his lungs, that it literally shook the inside and outside of his office and building floor they were on!

The other Interpol detectives outside the chief's office had horrified looks on their faces and had dropped their case files out of fear after hearing the volume and ire in his voice and hid behind their desks, as they had never heard or seen their boss that pissed before!

"It's as I said Inspector Barkley, after the Clockwerk Wings were discovered missing the local authorities and I had started making arrests inside the ballroom of Rajan's palace. Unfortunately, he had managed to elude capture. But Neyla was nowhere to be seen. A few witnesses I questioned stated that she had ran off the mysterious 'raccoon gentleman' she had been dancing with before the Wings went missing and she disappeared." Carmelita explained as she had reported what had happened back at the ballroom.

"Why on earth would Neyla just run off with a 'mystery man' she had danced with and didn't know? She know's better!" Barkley asked and demanded at the same time, not understanding why a young and promising cop like Neyla would go AWOL like she did!

 _'That's what I want to know as well. I swear that mysterious 'raccoon gentleman' seemed familiar.'_ Carmelita stated to herself, while remembering how charismatic and charming that mysterious 'gentleman' was...and then it clicked in her head.

 _'Oh, that smarmy, smug, thieving Ringtail bastard and two timing backstabbing bitch!'_ The hot tempered vixen shouted in her mind, as she gritted her teeth in deep ire as she figured out who it was that stole the Wings and Neyla ran off with...Sly Cooper!

"Carmelita, do you know something about why Neyla would disappear the way she did?" Barkley asked, as he had noticed the great angered facial expression appearing on the vixen's face.

"Inspector Barkley...it pains me to say this..." Carmelita started off, while not really meaning she felt 'sorry' for what she about to say.

 _'When I catch that bastard Cooper and bitch Neyla, I'm going to bring their heads back to Barkley on a silver platter!'_ The vixen cop said in her mind, determined to kill both the raccoon and tigress for different reasons! Sly; for playing with what true feelings she had for him and Neyla; for betraying and stealing her criminal from her.

"Tell me what?" The badger asked, while waiting for the vixen to finish and answer.

"I think that Constable Neyla has ran off and joined forces with the Cooper Gang." Carmelita answered, while trying to keep a straight face.

"How could you say a thing like that Carmelita?! Neyla has an impeccable police record just like yourself!" Barkley shouted, angry that the vixen could say such a thing about the tigress!

"Where's your proof that she actually joined the Cooper Gang!?" The badger asked and demanded at the same time, expecting Carmelita to prove that Neyla had indeed joined Sly Cooper and his gang!

"A couple of guests at the ball had taken pictures of the people on the dance floor...including of Neyla with the 'raccoon gentleman'. I had taken a photo of Neyla and the man she was dancing with as evidence and handed it to our computer tech, before coming into your office. I requested to be informed for a facial match." Carmelita explained that witnesses had taken photographs of Neyla and Sly, in disguise dancing together and she had taken one as evidence to confirm her theory.

That was when a knock was heard outside Barkley's office and they could see their current computer tech, waiting for permission to enter.

"Come on in Curtis." Barkley answered in a civilized, granting the tech permission to step inside his office to join him and Carmelita.

"Please forgive the interruption Chief. Inspector Fox requested the results of the facial ID scan of the raccoon from the photograph." Interpol's computer tech, Emil Curtis, a male German Shepard, had entered and spoke in civilized German accent and holding a police binder in his right hand.

"What are the results of the ID, Emil?" Carmelita asked, while already knowing the results of the ID from the facial recognition software.

"The results of the facial recognition software were a 100% match. The man that Constable Neyla is dancing with in the photo...is in fact Sly Cooper." Curtis answered, while handling the binder to the vixen and then she handed it Barkley.

"No...No...this can't...can't be." The badger stuttered, not believing that the man that Neyla was dancing and had fled with was indeed Sly Cooper.

The computer file inside the binder showed two separate photographs of Sly's face; from his current 'Most Wanted' file and of him in his disguise; which were indeed a 100% match.

"I'm sorry about this Barkley, but the photo definitely shows Neyla dancing with Cooper and was last seen fleeing the scene with him. The most logical reason she would do that is she betrayed us and joined Cooper and his team." Carmelita 'apologized' while confirming that Neyla was now in league with the Cooper Gang.

"Carmelita...I'm issuing a warrant for Neyla's arrest. When you find Cooper and Neyla is with him and his gang...arrest them all, her included. I want her brought into my office explaining herself before she is sent to prison." Barkley started off, while showing a look of sadness on his face and tone of disappointment in his voice, not believing or understanding how a cop like Neyla could betray the oath of being a cop for an international thief like Cooper.

"Of course Chief. I can't guarantee that I'll bring her in unharmed...but I promise to do the best I can." The vixen 'promised' to 'not harm' her now ex-partner when she found Neyla, Sly and his friend's.

"I also want the Contessa kept in the loop. She was the one who recommended Constable Neyla to assist in capturing the Cooper Gang." The badger added, showing no room for argument for his order.

"Of course Chief. I will inform the Contessa at once." Carmelita stated, showing she was going to inform the Contessa of Neyla's betraying Interpol and joining Sly's team.

 _~Later that day in Prague~_

"Thank you for informing me of this...shocking news Inspector Fox. Yes, I will be more than happy to assist in the arrest of Constable Neyla. Have a good day yourself, good bye." The Contessa spoke over her office phone in the warden office of her rehabilitation prison.

The Contessa had then dialed in a different phone number and waited patiently for an answer from the other line.

 _"Hello, Arpeggio, here."_ The founder and leader of the Klaww Gang answered from his personal speakerphone.

"Arpeggio...it's me. I have...unfortunate news regarding Neyla." The female 'psychiatrist' for Interpol had informed the parrot on a secure and private line that couldn't be traced to either of them.

 _"I'm going to assume...she is not either at Interpol, continuing her part of keeping up appearances...or reporting back directly to you."_ Arpeggio spoke, while already suspecting what it was the Contessa had called in to report.

"Unfortunately, she is not...she is with Cooper and his gang. She has betrayed us and compromised our goals; our plans with the Clockwerk parts." The Contessa reported while revealing that his former student had betrayed them and Interpol and joined the Cooper Gang.

 _"I see...well that is, unfortunate news."_ The parrot spoke in calm, but cold tone in his British accent and showing disgust towards the tigress that he took under his wing and learning she stabbed him in the back.

"What do you want to do? Neyla, no doubtingly, must've told and provided Cooper and his gang everything; about our spice operation and more importantly, about us. What parts we have in our possession and the locations of where we operate." The spider asked, while awaiting orders from the parrot on how to silence Neyla after she and Inspector Fox had arrested her and the Cooper Gang.

 _"Once Neyla has been captured...have her sent to your prison and interrogate her...I want to why she betrayed us. This unexpected turn of events could also present a perfect opportunity to test the efficiency of the Clockwerk Eyes."_ Arpeggio answered, while smiling at what he had in mind for the tigress.

"Hmm, I like the sound of that idea Arpeggio. I'd be more than happy to 'rehabilitate' Neyla at my personal estate." The spider smiled, as she was entertaining the idea of using the Clockwerk Eyes to hypnotize the tigress back on their side.

 _"Make sure she is in perfect condition for the 'procedure' first my dear Contessa. I might still have use for Neyla once she been reprogrammed. But for some strange reason the 'procedure' doesn't work...you have permission to end her."_ Arpeggio ordered as he wanted Neyla to be in good condition before the Contessa had started interrogating and hypnotizing the tigress back to their side.

"I will contact you when Neyla, Cooper and his team have been found and arrested." The Contessa assured the parrot that she would inform him when Neyla and the Cooper Gang were spotted and placed under arrest.

 _"There is one other subject I'd like to discuss with you Contessa."_ Arpeggio stated before they ended their conversation.

"What would that be?" The spider asked, as she was intrigued by what else Arpeggio needed to discuss with her.

 _"If Neyla stills chooses to aid Cooper and his team...I would be interested in taking on a new protege...and I have the perfect candidate in mind."_ The parrot revealed and explained with a smile, showing he had found a new student to replace Neyla and to take under his tutelage.

 **A/N: Sorry for the wait everyone. The next upcoming chapter will be the official start of The Predator Awakens episode and jobs. Have a nice day and please be sure to review.**


	8. The Predator Awakes Pt 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any of the characters**

 **A/N: Hello everyone, here is the chapter with the first half to The Predator Awakes episode as promised. Now just for a heads up, there will be a slight change; the jobs will remain the same, only Neyla will assisting Sly with his assignments.**

 **Reviews and comments will be appreciated**

 **Chapter 8: The Predator Awakes Pt. 1**

 _'With Neyla's insight and knowledge of the Klaww Gang, we now knew the location of where Rajan had ran off to after eluding capture: a long forgotten temple in the heart of the Indian jungle, which Neyla claims, has never been discovered had been transformed into the thriving center of Rajan's spice manufacturing and trading operation'._ Sly stated in his head as he remembered how his tigress had provided the location of the temple and offered to lead them deep through the jungle, as she had been there before and knew the way, which proved to be essential for the raccoon and his friend.

 _'Due to the jungle, being too thick and heavily brushed to drive through, forced us to travel on foot.'_ The raccoon had thought back, when Murray had found a suitable clearing to leave the van and with Sly's help, the two of them had covered it with large sized branches they cut off from nearby trees and fern bushes. Neyla had led them through, taking point with Murray and Bentley right behind her and armed with machetes to hack away the jungle canopy blocking their view. Sly had taken up the rear, making sure they weren't followed or jumped by any of Rajan's men patrolling around.

 _'We hit a couple of setbacks...But we managed to continue on forward... (Sigh) I really wish Murray had listened when Neyla warned him and Bentley to 'watch their step'.'_ Sly had thought back to the really awkward and embarrassing moment that happened not to long ago...how Murray had accidentally stepped in a pool of quicksand and how he, Bentley and Neyla had struggled to pull him out...while also being slowly pulled in due to the hippo's weight!

 _'While taking a short break from the long trek through the jungle, Neyla had informed us that the Wings weren't the only Clockwerk part that the ill-tempered tiger had under his possession...he had also taken the Clockwerk Heart. Due to the Heart, being so ancient and tireless, Rajan had discovered a way to use it as a pump to increase his spice manufacturing tenfold.'_ Sly could only imagine the insane grin Rajan had on his face, while clenching the beating robotic organ that kept his family's ancient enemy alive for centuries in his paw.

 _'I hope he isn't counting on keeping the Heart much longer...because tonight, it's coming home with me.'_ The raccoon said in his mind, with a strong look of determination of putting an end to the deranged spice dealer's plans for good.

After finally reaching the temple, Sly and his team had immediately set up a safe house in the mouth of a huge stone tiger head that gave them a complete bird's eye view of the surrounding area of the temple.

"Sly, I've already set up an RV point by that truck near the river. Once you reach it, I will contact you with further instructions via Binocucom." Bentley said as he and Murray were setting up the slide projector for the presentations later on.

"Alright, I'm heading outside." The raccoon said, but not before he felt Neyla reaching for his free hand and they shared a silent look, which confused the turtle and hippo.

"You want to come with Neyla?" Sly asked, as if he understood what it was his girlfriend was silently asking him through the gesture.

"I do know the lay of the area better than you and your friends Sly. Plus...it would be better if I was with you out in the field, than cooped up here with nothing to do." The tigress answered, while nodding to his question.

"Alright with me beautiful, but stay close." The raccoon replied, not finding any room for argument against his tigress's logic and wish to help him out in the field. Plus, Sly also couldn't pass up the opportunity to work alongside his new girlfriend, whom was part of their team, even though it was still unofficial.

"Sly, are you crazy? If you take Neyla out there with you, Rajan's men will no doubtingly attempt to capture and deliver her to him!" Bentley, shouted, not thinking that letting Neyla assist them with field operations was a wise choice!

"That's not going to happen Bentley. I'll have her stick close to me the entire time and there's no way I'll ever let those thugs lay a finger on her." Sly, countered to calm his overreacting friend down and showing he would never let his tigress be captured by Rajan or the rest of the Klaww Gang.

Both the tigress and raccoon had stepped out of their hideout and jumped down, landing softly and silently on the roof of a sturdy stone building. They had proceeded towards the designated RV point, while climbing up and running along the vines to avoid being spotted by the guards patrolling the area. After reaching the RV point, Sly had gotten out his binocucom and contacted Bentley.

"You and Neyla need to sneak inside the Temple and take some recon photos so I can assess the situation. But be careful, if either of you get hurt, the closest hospital is 106 miles from here." Bentley instructed and reminded both Sly and Neyla to avoid any serious injuries, as they didn't have the equipment to tend to lethal or fatal wounds.

"Trust us Bentley, after what we went through with Murray earlier...we have no intention of going through something like that." Sly replied back, as the memory of the hippo stepping and sinking in that quicksand was still fresh on their minds.

"According to the data that I downloaded off the flash drive Neyla provided us and my map of the area, there should be a hidden passage that leads into the temple, behind that waterfall." The turtle stated as he was going over the data he transferred off the drive on his laptop.

"That's nice work Bentley. I'll take a secret passage over the front door any day." The raccoon stated, as he and his tigress had spotted a pipe sealed shut from behind the waterfall.

"Ready to get going handsome?" Neyla asked, showing she was ready to get their first field job together underway.

"Ready when you are beautiful tigress." Sly answered back and his answer earned him a tender kiss from his tigress, which he happily complied with.

They had sprinted across the curved path that lead right behind the waterfall, but not before swiftly dealing with a wild cobra that had popped up from the bushes with a swift and strong blow from Neyla's whip. Sly had silently crept up behind a goat guard that had no doubtingly been assigned to protect the secret passage. Before taking out the goat, the raccoon had silently snaked his cane in his back pocket and pulled out a silver pen. Sly had then took out the goat swift uppercut from his cane, which sent the guard upward in the air and slammed him downwards hard onto his back, knocking him unconscious.

"Sly, why did you pickpocket that guard instead of just knocking him out?" Neyla asked, curious to why her boyfriend had bothered to pickpocket that guard instead of just dealing with him right away.

"Sometimes the guards always carry something valuable that's worth stealing. Bentley can sell whatever items I take off the guards online via Thiefnet on his laptop and we use the money to purchase gadgets that we can use against the guards while out in the field." Sly explained to his tigress, as to why he had pickpocket the guard.

"Plus...it's also a habit that's passed on through the Cooper Clan line." The raccoon added, with a hint of humor and the tigress couldn't help but giggle at his statement.

Sly and Neyla had proceeded with their job assignment; jumping over the last gap and reaching the locked down hatch. The raccoon had pulled down the lever on their side and it caused a small portion to open. Sly had gone in first, with Neyla right behind them and they sprinted down the dark dim lit hatch, entering the interior of the Temple. Sly had contacted Bentley once again after getting out his binocucom.

"Bingo, you and Neyla found the spice growing facility. Now, from what I know of photosynthesis all the expensive equipment should be found at the top of this room..." The turtle stated as he congratulated Sly and Neyla had made their way in the Temple.

"That access tube should get you both up there." Bentley advised while he and the raccoon had glanced up to a ladder that was visible from the inside of the tube.

"Alright, we'll head for the top." Sly stated as Neyla followed his glance upwards towards the tube.

The raccoon and tigress had swiftly and silently eliminated the baboon guards in their way, knocking them into the water below and glanced away as the guards drowned, due to not knowing how to swim. They had crossed the wooden plank bridge and spotted a single rhino guard patrolling around the scaffolding. Sly had knocked the guard out with his stealth slam, knocking the rhino in the air and slamming him down onto the wooden structure hard. He and Neyla had jumped in two separate buckets filled with water, being operated a pulley system to dump the water on the soil.

Both Sly and Neyla were relieved the other rhino guard standing on top of another scaffolding, didn't notice them as they had secretly rode up the pulley system and jumped out of their own bucket after reaching the top of the room. They had crossed a second wooden bridge and dealt with a cobra that popped out of a jar that was in their way. The raccoon and tigress had used their own Ninja Spire jump and rail slide techniques to slide along and jump between the vines. After reaching the access tube, both Sly and Neyla had climbed up the ladder separately and entered a room with a window that gave them the perfect vantage point of main area of the Temple that served as the center of Rajan's spice operation. Speaking of Rajan, he was conveniently walking around with half of the Heart tied to the top of his staff.

Sly had taken out his binocucom and switched to the spy cam function and began taking photos of the four main objects of interest; the crane controls, entrance, Rajan and the Clockwerk Heart.

"Hmm, that crane is keeping half of the Heart suspended." Bentley stated, as the controls to the crane were locked down with two padlocks.

"There's the entrance to this area...only I have no idea how to get in from the Temple's exterior!" The turtle stated, after the raccoon had taken a photo of the entrance.

"Look's like half of the Heart is being used in supererogate the spice plants." Bentley stated, as the Heart was emitting some kind of red gas and being suspended in the center of the room.

"Check it out! Rajan is carrying half of the Clockwerk Heart on that stick!" The turtle stated, with a hint of surprise in his voice that the spice dealer was keeping half of the Heart on his person as a precaution!

"Okay Sly, you and Neyla come on back to the safe house. We'll really need to think about this one." Bentley ordered, as he, Sly and Neyla knew without a doubt that attempting to steal the Heart would be more complicated than the Wings.

After making and fighting their way back to the safe house, Sly had given the recon photos to Bentley and the turtle had set up a slide show presentation.

"The Clockwerk Heart is under heavy security. Heck, even Rajan is carrying half of it at all times!" Bentley started off, showing the photos of half the Heart being under heavy guard and Rajan's half on the tip of his staff.

"To get at the two halves, I'm going to need obtain more information. Sly will plant a bug in Rajan's office while I will lift the spice operation blue prints off the spice lord while he makes his rounds." The turtle explained the jobs they will need to carry out, while showing a photo of the inside of the tiger's main office and photos of the spice dealer personally patrolling the temple grounds.

"Unfortunately, while we're collecting intelligence on him, he'll be collecting data on us with an elephant driven satellite array. We need to take it out, or he'll intercept all our communications!" Bentley revealed a photo of the said satellite array, being practically close near their hideout! That was the end of the slide show.

"Oh, my gosh!" The turtle gasped as he realized a possibility far too late!

"What is it Bentley?" Murray asked as he, Sly and Neyla were alarmed by their friend's sudden outburst!

"Rajan might've been listening when Sly and I were talking over the binocucoms before and after he and Neyla sneaked in the Temple!" Bentley answered and revealed, to what caused him to be worried! Sly, Neyla and Murray had froze in shock as well, as they dreaded that revelation!

"If he was listening, than that means he knows you're with us Neyla." Sly said, as he and his tigress looked at each other, concerned about what Rajan would do if he ever got his hands on her.

"This doesn't change anything though. We still have a job to do." The tigress said, showing she wasn't that afraid or intimidated of the spice dealer.

"That's my girl." The raccoon stated and smiling proudly, since he and Neyla were a perfect match, as they didn't scare that easily and determined to see their job through.

Sly and Neyla had exited the safe house and headed towards the first RV point that was on the roof of a neighboring building near their hideout. After using a large size mushroom to land on the roof and dealing with the Ibex guard, Sly had taken out his binocucom after glancing towards the satellite array.

"That's the elephant driven satellite array Rajan is using to monitor our communications. If it isn't destroyed, he'll be able to listen in to everything we say, even now." Bentley stated, as he, Sly and Neyla had witnessed the elephant used to keep the array operational.

"That's pretty grim. Do you have any ideas on how to shut it down?" The raccoon asked, since he knew their operation was in peril if Rajan could hear everything they said while communicating over the binocucoms.

"Sly, there might be a way for us to disable that satellite." Neyla informed her raccoon boyfriend and she had his attention, along with Bentley as he could hear her over the binocucom.

"What do you have in mind Neyla?" Sly asked, as he was curious to what his tigress girlfriend's plan to shut the satellite array down was.

"'I have no doubt that Bentley is already aware that the local spice plants native here in India have been classified as an illegal substance." Neyla explained her plan and the turtle nodded as he indeed read up about the local flora found in the Indian jungle.

"Neyla's right Sly, the local spice plants have been banned illegal and for good reason; eat too much and you'll go into a fit of uncontrolled rage." Bentley replied, while explaining how dangerous the spice that Rajan grows and distributes was.

"We'd better keep that stuff away from Murray..." Sly stated, showing he'd hate to see that happen to Murray if he unknowingly or accidentally ate food covered in that dangerous substance.

"Oh, wait, wait, I see where you and Neyla are going with this. We collect and put some spice plants in the elephant's feed bag. He chows down, gets crazy and then Presto! The satellite's in pieces." The raccoon stated as he understood the plan to destroy the satellite.

"That's a crude interpretation of the plan, but accurate. The trick is harvesting the spice plants. You and Neyla will have to do some serious climbing, as they only grow high up in the jungle canopy." The turtle stated amused by his friend's version of understanding the plan, while explaining that the spice plants can only be found in the tallest trees of the jungle.

"We'll have to split up in order to collect the spice plants Sly." Neyla stated, as she knew it was the quickest way of collecting the necessary plants they'd need to feed the elephant.

"If any of those guards capture you Neyla..." Sly stated, not wanting to risk the chance of his tigress being captured by Rajan's men, but was cut off by his girlfriend.

"They won't. I promise Sly, I'll be careful. I can handle my own." His tigress said, assuring her raccoon lover that she'd be alright. They shared a soft kiss, sealing the promise.

"Alright Neyla, let's get to climbing. You take three and I'll take three." Sly said as they agreed with the plan, searching three trees to find enough spice plants.

Neyla had climbed and searched the trees near the hideout, even finding one on the top of their hideout. Sly had climbed and searched the trees on the other end of the Temple grounds. He had skillfully avoided being spotted by the elephant sentries and guards, but had to fight after spotted once or twice. The raccoon had even made the time to pickpocket several items off multiple guards; five bronze combs, eight silver pens and six golden rings. He had also found the necessary clues Bentley would need to learn the code into Rajan's second vault. After searching every tree, Sly and his tigress could only find six spice plants, which they figured was sufficient enough to place in the elephant's feeding bag. The raccoon and his girlfriend had made their back near the safe house.

"Sayonara, satellite array." Sly said as he and Neyla had placed the spice in the elephant's feeling nag and gotten out of the way, so the pachyderm wouldn't attack them after eating.

When the elephant had stopped for a quick break and ate a small amount and that's when the show was about to start. The pachyderm's eyes changed from blue to red, as it felt a bizarre sensation coursing. It had pulled its restraints from the array, rendering it useless to Rajan. Both Sly and Neyla watched amused as the elephant had sprinted as fast as it could while going on a rampage.

Sly and Neyla had climbed their way up a towering vine covered stone column, where a single Ibex guard was standing look out. After a swift and powerful strike from Neyla's whip, the guard had been rendered out cold. The raccoon had then contacted Bentley through his binocucom.

"Sly, the insect in that pool is a rare Indian water bug. If you and Neyla can sneak it into Rajan's office, it's wings will transmit a local sound wave at a frequency I can monitor." Bentley explained the plan and genetic feature of the unique and rare bug, resting in the small pool of water on the column Sly and Neyla had climbed up.

"So, let me and Neyla see if we've got this straight. You want us to bug Rajan's office...with an actual bug?" Sly asked, as he and Neyla shared a baffled expression to what they were supposed to do.

"It is an elegant plan, I agree. But's there's a catch that you both should know; that water bug can only survive in stagnant pools. If kept out of water for too long, it'll become unhappy and draw the attention of local guards." The turtle admitted to what a strange method he had planned to monitor Rajan's conversations.

"Hmm...there are a couple of pools along the way to Rajan's office. A short swim along the way should keep our little friend quiet." Sly stated as he and Neyla had noticed other pools through the Temple grounds.

"There is another option we can use to deliver this bug into Rajan's office Ringtail." Neyla pointed out as she and her raccoon could climb and use the vines to their advantage.

"You read my mind beautiful." Sly stated while flirting with his tigress before placing the water bug over his back.

He and Neyla had stuck to their plan by using the vines to smuggle the bug into the ill-tempered tiger's office. Although their cargo had became agitated from being out of water for too long and started making a loud chirping like cry to attract guards, none of Rajan's men could hear it as they were out of range. After nearing the entrance to the spice dealer's office, Sly had placed the water bug in a nearby pool to simmer it down. Once the bug had calmed down, the raccoon had placed the bug over his back again. Sly and Neyla had jumped and climbed up the ledge and entered Rajan's office. After avoiding the floor lasers, the raccoon had placed the bug in a pool of water near Rajan's desk.

"Excellent! I've ready tuned into the bug's wing vibrations! I'm a genius!" Bentley declared in joy as he was already listening in like he had predicted!

Before leaving to head back to the safe house, Sly had walked over to the safe in the room and bent down to input the combination.

"It's a good thing that I'm fluent in Sanskrit or this code would have been impossible. Try...3-8-6." Bentley stated while going over all the clues that Sly had found.

Sly had punched in the numbers that Bentley had advised and opened the vault door. Inside the vault was a new gadget that the raccoon could use; the Voltage Strike move and left his family clan calling card in place. He and Neyla exited Rajan's office and fought their way back to the safe house. After stepping inside, Bentley was already prepped and ready for his job assignment. After reaching his RV point near the locked gate blocking the front entrance to the Temple and contacted Sly.

"As I expected, Rajan is out on his daily tour of the operation. My sources claim he always carries three blueprints on him, when read together reveal everything about his spice operation." Bentley stated as he and Sly had spotted the tiger stepping out of another secret entrance to the Temple.

"Too bad he doesn't have that half of the Clockwerk Heart we saw during the recon. You could just pump him full of sleep darts and we could get outta here." Sly stated, showing he was disappointed that Rajan had removed the half from his staff, but also expected as much since the tiger wasn't making the same mistake with the Wings.

"Unfortunately, my sleep darts aren't powerful enough to affect Rajan." The turtle countered, revealing that the sedatives in his darts weren't strong enough to put the spice dealer to sleep.

"What? How are you going to get at the blueprints?" The raccoon asked shocked after hearing his friend state that his darts would have no effect on the tiger!

"Rajan has an insatiable appetite for Indian watermelons, which if eaten whole, will force even him to nod for a little while. While he's asleep, I'll creep in and lift the blueprints." Bentley explained as he had found an alternative method to putting the spice dealer to sleep.

"That's a smart plan and all, but how are you going to lure him over to the watermelons?" Sly asked curious to how Bentley planned to lure the tiger to the melons.

"I've equipped my sleep darts with a sonic disrupter...the strange sounds they emit should be enough to lead the ever curious Rajan from place to place." The turtle stated while explaining the plan to get at the blueprints while using his newly upgraded sleep darts before getting straight to work.

Bentley was in a perfect position and range to fire his darts and lure Rajan to the first watermelon, which was up the stone staircase near the tiger. The only problem was that the sound the darts made didn't just attract Rajan, but it also lured whatever guards nearby and had them running to investigate. After luring Rajan to the first melon and watching him eat it whole, Bentley had pump whatever guards that were in his way to sleep while reaching Rajan. After lifting the first set, the turtle had immediately fled as the ill-tempered tiger had slowly woken up from his nap.

After finding another suitable hiding spot, Bentley had lured Rajan to a second watermelon near a rust covered and broken down truck. After eating the watermelon whole, the tiger had once again drifted off to sleep and Bentley had carefully sneaked in and lifted the 2nd set of blueprints off Rajan. He had fled while the tiger had started to wake up and found a new hiding spot up a tree. The turtle had lured Rajan to a third and final watermelon, which he had eaten whole and drifted off to sleep once again. Bentley had approached the sleeping spice dealer and lifted off the 3rd and final set off him.

"Wha...What?...The blueprints! They have been stolen?!" Rajan asked after waking up and realizing that his blueprints had gone missing and fled!

After making his back to the safe house, Bentley stepped inside and saw Sly, Neyla and Murray waiting for him behind the table.

"That was great field work out there Bentley! Great job getting those blueprints!" Sly congratulated their friend and tech support for doing incredible work out on the field.

"Thanks Sly, you and Neyla did alright out there too. Now that we have these blueprints, we'll have full understanding of the schematics to the Temple. We should rest up for tonight. We'll have more field jobs to carry out tomorrow." Bentley advised as they needed to be ready for more jobs before they get to the Clockwerk Heart.

The whole team agreed, as the walk through the jungle and assignments they had just complete wore them out. Sly and Neyla had gone to sleep in their own quarters, along with Bentley and Murray as they needed to prepared for their assignments tomorrow.

 **A/N: Here is the ending for the first half to The Predator Awakes episode guys. I'm sorry that it took me so long to finishing and publishing it. My uncle Peter died two weeks ago from a seizure and the funeral was last weekend. I've been struggling to get by and handling it. The second half will be on the next upcoming chapter.**


	9. The Predator Awakes Pt 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any of the characters**

 **A/N: Hello everyone, here is the second half to The Predator Awakes episode.**

 **Reviews and comments will be appreciated**

 **Chapter 9: The Predator Awakes Pt. 2**

After waking up and having a nice breakfast, Bentley had put together another slideshow for the mission briefings.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news you guys. Rajan has gone into hiding somewhere in the Temple." The turtle started off while displaying a slide of the temple and a yellow question mark drawn over.

"Obviously, taking out his satellite array and my invasion of his personal space to get at the blueprints spooked him!" Bentley stated, while displaying two separate slides of the satellite array and Rajan while he was making his rounds.

"In order for us to have a shot at nabbing his half of the Clockwerk Heart, we'll have to lure him out in the open. Given Rajan's hostile and ill tempered personality...I recommend we make him angry." He continued while showing three slides of the spice dealer carrying his half of the Heart at the tip of his staff and closed up look at the tiger's angry looking eyes.

"How do you suggest we do that Bentley?" Neyla asked, curious to how they were supposed to anger Rajan into showing himself.

"To start off, I'd suggest we destroy the center of his entire spice manufacturing operation: the spice grinder. Then we'll destroy the dam above the temple in an attempt to flood him out." The turtle started off while displaying two separate slides: one of the area where the spice grinder was while under heavy security and the other of the dam, with wavy drawn lines representing water.

"If that doesn't work, I've already made the arrangements to trade the Temple's facade ruby in order to purchase high explosives, which if necessary, we can use to flood the entire Temple grotto!" Bentley added, while showing a slide of the said large sized ruby and one of the water gates blocking the water from the dam!

"Given the psyche profile provided from the flash drive, Rajan should come out of hiding with his half of the Heart before making his escape. Effectively, he'll in fact be bringing it to us." The turtle ended the presentation and everyone knew what they to do in order to flush the spice dealer out of hiding.

"Sly there's something I need to tell you." Neyla stated, as she and the raccoon stepped out of the safe house to carry out their assignments.

"What is it?" Sly asked, curious to what his tigress girlfriend needed to tell him.

"The entrance to the Spice room where we saw the first half of the Clockwerk Heart during the recon? I know where it is." She answered, which surprised her boyfriend!

"Where is the entrance Neyla?" Sly asked, as he knew this was the break they needed to put an end to Rajan's spice manufacturing operation!

"There's a secret entrance to that area on the left side of the Temple. Follow me." His tigress stated, while running towards the section of the temple that held the secret entrance, with her raccoon lover right behind her.

Both Sly and Neyla had used their acrobatic abilities and stealthiness to avoid being spotted by the guards. Whenever they had been spotted, Sly had used his Insanity Strike move; taping the bottom end of his cane and creating a dark purple aura surrounding the top end. With a swift and strong blow, Sly had struck a Baboon guard that spotted them and caused him to go insane...attacking an Ibex and then a Rhino guard, also going mad. Neyla smirked in amusement, while amazed upon witnessing Sly using one of his current acquired gadgets on the baboon.

"That never gets old." Sly chuckled as he and his tigress witnessed the guards duking it out, especially after striking the Baboon guard and watching him run off, attacking any other unsuspecting guards and also making them go crazy. He remembered using it whenever he could back at Rajan's palace before making off with the Wings.

Sly and Neyla had continued onward to the left side of the Temple, while using the trampolines and mushrooms to reach the higher ledges. Fortunately, they didn't have to get far. After reaching the first high ledge, they had sprinted to the right while making a stop near the crumpled and fragmented bridge, that was connected to the front entrance of the Temple.

"This is it." Neyla stated as she pressed a brick in the center of the wall, which was a secret switch that caused the wall to slide open...and revealed the secret entrance!

"Neyla...thank you for telling and showing me this." Sly stated as he placed a gentle kiss on his tigress lover's lips, which Neyla happily returned.

"My pleasure Ringtail, especially since I wanted to thank you for trusting and letting me be part of the team." The tigress stated, after they broke the kiss. This was her way of wanting to thank her raccoon lover for defending and letting her join his gang.

Sly and Neyla had walked through the secret entrance and entered the upper level of the Spice room that held the first half of the Heart. He had then took out his binocucom and contacted Bentley.

"Bentley, Neyla and I have made our way to the upper level of the Spice room with the Clockwerk Heart." Sly stated as he and Bentley spotted the said robotic organ, beating and emitting the strange red gas.

"How did you guys manage to get in that area?" The turtle asked, surprised that Sly and Neyla had found the entrance and entered the upper level of the Temple interior!

"With Neyla's help. She led and showed me the secret entrance to this part of the Temple." The raccoon stated while smiling at Neyla and she returned the gesture, glad that her boyfriend was giving her all the credit.

"In order for you and Neyla to lower that half of the Heart, you'll both need access to the cranes controls...but it's locked down tight." Bentley stated while explaining how they were supposed to nab the first half of the still beating robotic organ.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure these guards won't mind if we 'borrowed' their keys." Sly stated as he and Neyla glanced between the locked down controls to the crane and the two rhino guards stationed to protect the Heart and his tigress couldn't help but chuckle at how her raccoon emphasized the word 'borrow'.

He and Neyla had used their acrobatic moves to avoid being spotted by the lanterns the guards were carrying. While the first guard had stopped to glance around for any intruders after noticing the secret entrance was opened, that was when Sly made his move. The raccoon had stealthily sneaked up to the unsuspecting rhino and pick-pocketed his key. He had then decided to use his new gadget move; the Voltage Strike. Just like before, he had tapped the bottom end of his cane onto the sturdy stone balcony and the top end was channeling a high voltage of electricity.

"Lights out big boy." Sly muttered softly and the guard gasped, after hearing the raccoon right behind him!

Before the guard could even turn around to attack, the raccoon landed a swift blow with his cane; paralyzing the unsuspecting guard. The rhino had gave a loud grunt like yell, before he collapsed and fell over flat on his stomach! The second guard, whom heard the yell came running to investigate...and had no idea he was running into an ambush. Just as the rhino had spotted Sly in his sight and was about to throw one of his knives...that was when Neyla came to her boyfriend's rescue. The tigress had lassoed her whip around the guard's waist and with a strong pull, causing him to spin like a top! The guard had staggered, as he was dizzy from all the spinning and collapsed; falling hard face flat on the stone structure.

"Thanks Neyla, I owe you one." Sly stated as he relieved the passed out guard's back pocket and used his stealth slam, knocking the rhino out like his fellow guard. He also had a smile on his face, since seeing the guard spinning like a top was hilarious.

"Anytime handsome." Neyla replied back, as her raccoon had walked up to her and they shared a tender kiss, smiling as they pulled away.

They had then proceeded to approach the locked down crane controls. Sly had used the keys to unlock and remove the two padlocks, which allowed him and his tigress access to the controls. After pulling the lever that was for the crane, it had released the Heart and it collapsed on the center of the stone walkway. Both Sly and Neyla noticed that it had also stopped emitting that red gas before moving forward to collect it.

"That's it, the first half of the Clockwerk Heart! Nice job you guys! The spice won't be growing around here anytime soon." Bentley cried out happily, as they had stolen half of the robotic owl's still beating heart!

"We're half way done babe." Sly stated also happy, as he and his tigress embraced in a hug.

"All that's left is Rajan's half. Let's get out of here before those guards get back up Ringtail." Neyla replied back, also happy they got half of the Clockwerk part they were after.

"I hear that beautiful." The raccoon answered back, as he and his girlfriend exited the area of the Temple. They headed back to the safe house, not wanting to risk losing the half they had just stolen.

"Awesome Sly! You and Neyla got half of the Heart!" Murray shouted in glee, as he couldn't believe his own eyes when the raccoon and tigress returned with the first half of the robotic organ!

 _'Neyla has proven to be an invaluable asset...and she did make it possible for us to steal the first half of the Heart.'_ Bentley stated while going over the things Neyla had done to prove her worth to him and Murray; providing them all the Intel they needed, leading them to the Temple and more importantly, helping them get the first portion of the Clockwerk Heart.

 _'Perhaps...I did misjudge her.'_ The turtle stated in his mind, realizing he was wrong about the tigress and that she did belong on their team.

"That was truly great work Sly...especially you Neyla. Thanks." Bentley stated softly with a soft smile on his face, indicating he was glad that the tigress was on their team. He had even offered her a hand, showing and saying he was sorry for doubting her.

"You're welcome Bentley." Neyla replied softly, as she gladly accepted his hand and shook it.

Sly and Murray smiled at the sight, as they could tell that Bentley realized he was wrong about Neyla and glad that he now accepted her as a friend and part of the gang. He and Neyla exited the safe house and made their way to the next RV point, which was a stone structure by the river on the opposite side of the Temple grounds. After pressing their backs up against and creeping along the narrow ledge, Sly had pressed a hidden button on the right side wall, which opened a door. They had jumped down to the area that held the Spice Grinder and the raccoon took out his binocucom, contacting Bentley.

"According to Rajan's blueprints, you guys are near the Spice Grinder...however, the passageways are blocked by these laser fences and security lights." Bentley stated after thoroughly studying the blueprints he lifted off the spice dealer.

"Well seeing as how the Spice Grinder is Rajan's main method of manufacturing the spice from the plants, it'd make perfect sense he'd have these passages heavily protected." Neyla stated as she and her raccoon knew that trying to pass through would not be an easy task.

"Hmm, it seems Rajan had his men use these TNT barrels to create these catacombs...maybe Neyla and I could borrow some to get past the fences." Sly stated as he and his tigress noticed a TNT barrel right in front of them, along with a chute dispenser supplying the explosives.

"You're the demolitions expert, how are we supposed to use the TNT barrels?" He asked, as he had no experience of handling explosive ordnance.

"Oh, its rather simple: you or Neyla just have to jump in a barrel, walk it over to your target, jump out and stay clear of the blast radius. But steer clear of floor lasers, as the TNT barrels won't work on them." Bentley instructed and advised, as he had the expertise of handling explosives. He had also warned Sly and Neyla to avoid the floor lasers.

The raccoon and tigress had took turns using the barrels; Sly had gone first, jumping in a barrel and walking it over to destroy the first control panel. After the first laser fence had gone offline, Neyla had gone next. She walked over to second security panel, but not before avoiding the lasers obscuring their path with her boyfriend right behind her. After destroying the second panel, Sly and his tigress had jumped over and avoided the next corridor filled with spot lights and floor lasers. After getting past the lasers and spot lights, they had entered a chamber containing their main objective: the Spice Grinder. Sly had taken out his binocucom and contacted Bentley.

"Neyla and I are within visual range of the Spice Grinder. What's the next step?" He asked, as Bentley could clearly see the Spice Grinder wheel grinding the herbs to extract and create the illegal substance.

"Rajan will not come out of hiding while spice is still being manufactured. If we destroy the grinder, he'll be out of business and won't have a reason to stay around the Temple." The turtle explained one method that would flush Rajan out hiding and into the open.

"Perfect, we do the world a favor by putting an end to his spice dealing operation and Rajan is forced out in the open." Sly stated, as he was pleased that he and his team were dealing serious blows to the tiger's spice operation.

"The trick to destroy the grinder is by using that TNT barrel down there." Bentley instructed as he, Sly and Neyla glanced down to the lower level of the circular chamber, spotting another chute providing limitless TNT barrels. The only problem, was that both the lower level and wooden walkway was being protected by two rhino guards.

"It should be worth mentioning that guards won't be able to see either of you, only if you guys remain still while in a TNT barrel. " Their computer tech and explosives expert added.

"How lovely, an explosive disguise." Neyla stated, showing she was entertaining the idea of her and Sly slipping past those incompetent guards in one of those explosive barrels.

"One of you will have to place a barrel near that grinding wheel and it will be blown to smithereens." Bentley concluded, with a sense of satisfaction detected as destroying the grinder would really ruin Rajan's day!

"Sly, you walk the barrel near the grinder. I'll take care of the guards up here." The tigress suggested, seeing as the guards needed to go before they could walk a barrel anywhere close to the grinder wheel.

"Alright, let's do this Neyla." Her raccoon stated as he saw no room for argument against her plan, as he was thinking the same thing.

Sly had jumped from the wooden plank walkway and landed silently down on the lower level of the chamber. After seeing her raccoon land softly and quietly onto the lower floor, she made swift work of the two unaware guards, lazily walking in circles around the grinder wheel. Neyla had silently sprinted across the wooden walkway with her whip ready for action. With a swift snap of her wrist, the tigress had lassoed her whip around the first rhino guard's horn, which earned a grunt like gasp at what was about to happen. With a swift and strong tug, Neyla had sent the first guard spinning off the platform and landing with a loud thud onto the lower floor. She had then knocked the second guard out with a swift whip to the head, rendering him unconscious.

After Sly had landed on the ground floor, he made swift work of the two guards patrolling around as well. He had knocked the first rhino guard out with his stealth slam and shocked the second unconscious with his High Voltage Strike gadget. The raccoon chuckled as he had witnessed his tigress send one of the guards back on the upper level spinning and falling off the platform. He had saw and heard the rhino land with a loud thud before sprinting over and jumping in a TNT barrel. After walking the barrel up to the security panel, it destroyed and deactivated the laser wall blocking his path.

He had jumped in and walked a second barrel back to the upper level, while skillfully avoiding the spot lights back up the sloped corridor. Neyla had waited patiently for her raccoon lover and smiled softly, as she spotted him in the TNT barrel and walking it over the walkway to the grinder wheel. After Sly had placed the barrel near the Grinder and jumped out, it had been blown into bits as planned!

"This is Lord Rajan! What is going on down there?!" The spice dealer shouted over into the intercom system through the Spice Grinder facility and demanded a response from the guards, not knowing they had been defeated!

"It looks like spice production has suddenly fallen behind! Wait...what? It's...it's completely stopped!" Sly and Neyla smiled at each other, as they took pleasure in hearing Rajan losing his composure and ruining his operation, step by step.

The raccoon and tigress had shared a sweet kiss before exiting the catacombs and headed for their final RV point; which was bit of a climb...literary. They had to climb up the vines of the tall stone tower across the river and rail slide along the vines, from tree to tree. After sliding on the vine from the last tree, Sly and Neyla had climbed along the vines covering the stone curved elephant tusks. After reaching the top of the tusk, they had rail slide down across to the top of the Temple entrance and Sly contacted Bentley through his binocucom.

"We've been contacted and hired to acquire that huge ruby of Rajan's by a local crime ring. In exchange for the jewel, they'll provide us with a Cherry Bomb 500 for the heist." Bentley stated, revealing they had been hired by a local crime ring, whom would provide them with a highly powerful bomb in exchange for the Temple's huge ruby.

"A Cherry Bomb 500?! That's a lot of firepower!" The raccoon exclaimed, surprised and excited at the same time after learning what type of explosive ordnance they'd get in return for ripping off the ruby!

"Trust me...we'll need it. In order to get that ruby free from its moorings, you'll have to whack it a few times with your cane." The turtle explained the first step of the plan to acquire the huge red jewel.

"Already on it." Sly stated, showing he was more than happy to rip off a treasure as big as that ruby.

"I'm going to send Murray for step two of the plan. Could you have Neyla meet him near the ruby?" Bentley requested, as he needed Neyla to help Murray with delivering the ruby to the buyers.

"I'll be waiting for him when he arrives from the safe house." Neyla stated, showing she would be more than happy to help and work with Murray for the first time.

After ending the conversation, Sly had done as Bentley instructed; leaping and striking the ruby, freeing it from it moorings. After the fourth blow, the ruby fell from the front of the temple, bounced off the roof and steps of the front entrance, while sliding off the bottom steps. Neyla had leaped off and landed softly next to the ruby and inspected it, making sure it wasn't damaged from the fall. Murray had stepped out of the safe house and took out his binocucom, contacting Bentley and spotting Neyla near the ruby.

"Murray, your up. Sly has knocked the ruby loose and we need your muscle to deliver it to the buyers." Bentley instructed his friend and their gang's muscle man, on his role for the job.

"Muscle is on the way." The hippo stated, showing he was eager to help and to finally get some action in the field. He'd been itching to fight Rajan's goons, before and after they made off with the Wings back at the palace.

Murray had fought his way to the reach the front entrance of the Temple, while sprinting from their hideout to the opposite side of the grounds, up the curved pathway and hill with a secondary satellite structure. The hippo sprinted across the sturdy bridge and used a mushroom to leap over the front gate to the main entrance. After leaping over the rubble on the bridge, he was greeted with a warm smile from Neyla, which he happily returned and pulled out of his binocucom, being contacted by Sly this time.

"Murray, you're the only one on the team strong enough to lift that ruby. Now despite its size, that rock is very fragile. Bentley will run up ahead and inflate cushions that are safe to throw the ruby onto...if that ruby is destroyed, the deal is off and our heist is down the toilet." The raccoon informed his friend, while explaining how breakable the ruby was and important the deal was for them to steal the second half of the Clockwerk Heart.

"I'm gonna guess that Neyla's here to help keep the guards away from me while I deliver the ruby to the buyers?" Murray asked as he fairly guessed to why Bentley asked her to partner up with him.

"Bingo pal. Now, head out to our rendezvous near the waterfall." Sly instructed, while confirming to what his tigress's role in making sure the deal would go through.

Both the hippo and tigress had spotted Bentley making his way to the front steps of the Temple and placed an inflatable cushions on the opposite sides of the rubble. Murray had picked the ruby up and with careful aim, tossed the jewel over and onto the cushion. He and Neyla had jumped over the rubble and witnessed Bentley place a bomb on the locked gates of the front entrance. The three of them had made their way to the first rendezvous point, using the cushions that Bentley placed between the gaps of as they crossed the bridge heading left, towards the waterfall. Having Neyla help Murray proved to be the right call on Bentley's part, as she had knocked out every guard that attempted to attack the hippo while he lugged the ruby over his head. After reaching the rendezvous, the turtle had placed a cushion and Murray tossed it gently as he could on the cushion, which was when an agent of the crime ring appeared.

"Hmm, this ruby is near flawless. I highly recommend to my superiors that we purchase it." The agent stated in a female voice, as she inspected the ruby and was pleased by the beauty of the jewel.

"Take it to our buyer and complete the contract." The female agent instructed, as their deal was halfway done.

Murray had picked the ruby up once again and followed Bentley down the ledges of the Temple and up the grassy slopes, with Neyla right beside him. The tigress had continued her part, dealing with the wild cobras striking out from the bushes and dispatching the Baboons and Ibex guards. Bentley had placed a cushion across a gap near a building ruin and with sheer concentration...Murray successfully tossed the ruby across the gap and it safely landed on the cushion. After making his way over to the building, the hippo had eagerly greeted the guards that came sprinting out the door of the building...with Neyla's help of course.

Neyla was impressed by how powerful Murray's punches were...as every Baboon and Ibex guard had been knocked out and were laying sprawled out, gazing at the stars or groaning in pain from each punch the hippo landed. Murray had picked up the ruby and tossed it across one final gap, landing softly on the cushion Bentley had placed. The turtle had placed one final cushion, before heading out for his RV point, as he was already prepped and out in the field. Murray had placed the ruby on the last and final cushion, which was when the buyer had appeared.

"I must admit, I am impressed by how the Cooper Gang's lives to it's thieving reputation. This is a true rare and beautiful Indian treasure. We will honor the bargain and provide a Cherry Bomb 500 as the turtle requested" The buyer stated in a male voice as he inspected the ruby and was satisfied by the mere sight of the jewel. He and his people would honor the contract and provide them with the explosive as promised.

Bentley had already headed out for his RV point; while putting the guards that crossed his path asleep with his darts. Once he neared the transport truck on the courtyard, he had contacted Sly via binocucom.

"Rajan's still holed up somewhere in the Temple. Got any ideas on how to lure him out?" Sly stated and asked at the same time, since stealing the first half of the Heart and destroying his Spice Grinder hadn't flushed him out of hiding.

"My research indicates that tigers have a strong disdain towards water and the psyche profile provided by Neyla confirms it. By destroying that dam, the Temple will be filled with the runoff." Bentley explained his plan, while planning to use Rajan aversion of water against him.

"Flooding him out, huh? Sounds like a good plan, but I don't think your bombs are strong enough for the job." The raccoon stated, liking Bentley's scientific method and explosive expertise, but had a gut instinct that his friend's bombs weren't powerful enough to destroy the dam.

"You're correct Sly. Fortunately, while monitoring the bug in Rajan's office, I overheard that a new auto-pilot attack helicopter that he purchased had just arrived...and is sitting inside this truck." The turtle admitted, but revealed he had been listening in on the spice dealer's phone conversations thanks to the water bug that Sly and Neyla had planted in his office.

"Remember to stay sharp Bentley. Rajan is sure to have that dam heavily protected." His raccoon friend and leader advised, as they knew that Rajan was no fool and they should expect heavy resistance.

After breaking contact with Sly, Bentley had placed a bomb between the cab and cargo trailer...which exploded and revealed the new attack helicopter. The turtle had jumped in the cockpit and took off in the air, arming the turret and began his attack run. Like he and Sly expected, while he fired upon the dam, Rajan had his own attack helicopters to protect the dam and shoot the turtle down...but Bentley had no intention of going down without a fight! He had skillfully piloted his attack chopper while avoiding enemy return fire and missiles, while shooting them down as well. Although he took a few hits, his plan had been working; his well placed shots had damaged and weakened the sturdy wall of the dam. After a few more well placed shots, the wall had finally cracked and fragmented, releasing all the water!

"Nice shooting Bentley! Hope Rajan knows how to swim!" Sly cheered and congratulated his friend over the radio!

Murray and Neyla had witnessed the whole aerial battle between Bentley and Rajan's forces, along with Sly and they couldn't help but smile proud at how brave and confident their friend had became ever since taking to the field.

"What? Oh, no! A piece of the dam struck the chopper!...I'm going down!" Bentley shouted in high alert, as a fragmented piece of the dam had unexpectedly struck his helicopter and caused it fly out of control!

Sly and the rest of the team gasped in shock as they witnessed and overheard Bentley shout in alarm as he was going to crash! But fortunately for them, especially Bentley, the chopper had crashed into and knocked over the top of a tower near the satellite structure on the overlooking hill near the safe house. But the fall down wasn't exactly a pleasant or fun experience; as he ad cried out as he fell out of the bottom of the tower.

"Ohhhh...I'm definitely NOT doing that again." The turtle murmured, as he now learned that him and flying didn't mix.

Bentley had made his way back to the safe house, where his friends were relieved and happy to see him still alive and unharmed. They had even congratulated him on his piloting skills. The gang had turned in for bed, as they needed to be ready for the grande finale tomorrow.

Only what they didn't know...was that their plan was going to take an...unexpected turn of events.

 **A/N: There it is everyone, the ending to the 2nd half to the Predator Awakes. I'm so sorry for the long wait and delay; its been crazy and hectic the last couple of weeks and past month. The next chapter will be the upcoming Operation: Wet Tiger. Please remember to comment and review. Until next time.**


	10. Operation: Wet Tiger

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any of the characters**

 **A/N: Hello everyone, here is the chapter for Operation: Wet Tiger! There will be a surprising twist at the end, please enjoy.**

 **Reviews and comments will be appreciated.**

 **Chapter 10: Operation: Wet Tiger**

After waking up from a good night's sleep and having a warm breakfast, it was time for the final heist to steal Rajan's half of the Clockwerk Heart. Bentley had set up a slide show presentation and started explaining the plan to the rest of the team.

"It seems the partial flooding from the destruction of the dam wasn't enough to draw Rajan out of hiding. So it's time to take it up a notch." The turtle stated while presenting a slide of the front entrance of the Temple and the title of the plan, Operation: Wet Tiger.

"By blowing up the Temple's elephant mouth, it will release the built up water from the dam and turn the temple grotto into a swimming pool!" Bentley continued, while presenting two separate slides: one of the secret door behind the Temple's carved elephant head and a second, of the Temple grounds.

"I'll provide cover fire for Murray using the chopper's gun turret while he pries the mouth open." The turtle began explaining the plan step by step, while presenting a slide of the still functioning crashed chopper, followed by a slide of the lever to the elephant mouth.

"Once that's done, Sly and Neyla will walk the Cherry Bomb 500 into the throat and then hightail it to high ground as fast as you guys can!" Bentley continued while presenting three separate slides: one of the truck near the river bank with a drawn line and arrow, indicating the path to the elephant throat, one of the door holding back the runoff from the dam, with an arrow pointing to the doors and one of two arrows away from the door, representing to fleeing once the water is released.

"Rajan is sure to come out hiding and be incredibly angry." He continued, presenting a slide of Rajan with his portion of the Heart!

"We jump him, snag his half of the Clockwerk Heart and we're outta here!" Bentley ended the presentation, by displaying two slides: one of the spice dealer's half of the robotic organ and the final slide of the route they used to reach the Temple!

Sly and Murray were excited for the main event, but when the raccoon glanced to look at Neyla...that's when he noticed his girlfriend had a troubled look on her face and was staying silent. He looked at his friends, silently asking them to give him and Neyla a moment alone and they instantly got the message.

"Come on Murray, let's get this operation started." Bentley stated, as he understood that Sly and Neyla needed a minute before they were ready. He and the hippo had exited the safe house and headed out for their RV point.

"Neyla...what's the matter?" Sly coaxed softly, wondering what caused his tigress to be so quiet and upset.

"Sly...I've got this...awful feeling that something terrible is going to happen." The tigress answered, with a fearful look in her eyes that something horrible would happen while they tried to steal Rajan's half of the Heart.

"Neyla...nothing's going to happen. If we stick to the plan and do our parts right, we'll get out of here quick and clean." Sly stated, assuring her that nothing terrible would happen.

"I'll never let anything happen to you my beautiful tigress. I'd die first before letting Arpeggio or the rest of the Klaww Gang capture or hurt you." Her raccoon lover added adamantly, showing that he would never let Arpeggio or anyone else hurt her.

"Sly...I would do the same for you. I love you, my handsome Ringtail." Neyla smiled, as her boyfriend's words had relieved any remaining sense of fear about the operation and gave her the motivation she needed to proceed with the heist.

They had shared a burning and passionate kiss, sealing the promise they had made to each other and smiled lovingly as they looked into each other's eyes.

"I love you too beautiful. Now let's get this heist started." Sly said, as he placed a gentle kiss on his tigress's forehead and they both headed out for the truck to pick up the Cherry Bomb 500.

 _~ Back with Bentley and Murray ~_

After they exited the safe house, the turtle and hippo had headed out for the RV point, which was near the satellite dish and tower where Bentley had crashed the auto-pilot attack chopper. They also couldn't help but worry about what caused Neyla to be so distraught and knew Sly was the best person to comfort her, due to their romantic relationship. They had managed to avoid being detected by most of the remaining guards patrolling the grounds, but Murray did all the fighting; knocking out the Ibex and Baboons with a single punch and using them to knock out the Rhino's that came running to investigate. They had ran up the hill, while avoiding the elephant sentry and reaching the RV point.

"Alright, I'll fire up the chopper's turret and provide cover while you pry the mouth open for Sly and Neyla." Bentley instructed after he and Murray approached the tower.

"Roger that Bentley. I just hope that Neyla is feeling better after we left." The hippo stated, worried about how upset the tigress was after Bentley ended the presentation.

"I know big guy...me too." The turtle stated, while secretly worrying and fearing the same as Neyla...that something terrible was about to happen while they attempted to steal Rajan's half of the Heart.

Bentley had started his climb up the tower and entered the wrecked, but still operational chopper while witnessing Murray sprinting to the elephant 'throat'. The hippo had fought his way easily defeating and knocking out the guards that foolishly attempted to stop him. The Baboon and Ibex guards had groaned/moaned in pain or gazing at the stars after meeting a powerful punch from Murray's fists.

Murray had made his way to the 'throat', while being greeted by a last attempt from the guards to prevent him from opening the 'throat'. Four Baboons had exited through a door close to the lever to open it. The hippo had made short and swift of the guards, while being cautious while battling the Baboon armed with the torches, as he remembered battling them alongside Sly while protecting Bentley to gain access to the winch to steal the Clockwerk Wings back at the palace. He had picked up a Baboon he knocked out with a strong punch and tossed him at the one with the torch, rendering him unconscious. With all the guards defeated, Murray had started getting to work opening the 'mouth'.

"Alert, the temple is under assault! Put down this attack!" Rajan shouted through the speakers, alerting the remaining guards to stop the Cooper Gang from flooding the temple grotto!

"Gadzooks, Rajan is raining down multiple Hunter-Seeker Bombs on Murray!" Bentley shouted in alarm as he spotted multiple orange-reddish bombs descending from the dark cloudy sky in parachutes.

The turtle immediately manned the turret and started shooting every bomb down before they could harm his friend and teammate. With careful and steady aim, he successfully shot down every Hunter-Seeker bomb that rained down from the sky.

"It's all clear from my position. How are things going with the lever Murray?" Bentley asked, while checking in on his friend and teammate.

"I'm working on it. It'll just take a few seconds." The hippo reported back, while still working on lowering the mouth to the elephant head.

Just like Murray had promised, he had lifted the lever upward and caused the wall to lower down, which revealed the door containing the runoff from the dam. There had been a small puddle already forming, as water had soaked through the cracks in the sturdy wooden door.

"Yes, The Murray's might and muscle triumphs once again!" The hippo exclaimed, pleased with himself for opening the mouth for Sly and Neyla.

 _~ Back with Sly and Neyla ~_

"The mouth is open! You and Neyla are all clear to bring in the Cherry Bomb 500, Sly!" Murray informed over the radio, letting both his friends know that everything was set to bring in the bomb.

"Roger that Murray. We're on the way." Sly answered back, smiling at the level of enthusiasm he detected in Murray's voice.

"This is it Neyla, are you ready?" The raccoon asked, while turning to his tigress and wondering if was she mentally ready for their part in the operation.

"I'm ready Sly. Let's do this." Neyla answered, assuring her raccoon lover that she was indeed ready for her first heist in the Cooper Gang.

The two lovers shared a soft kiss before heading over to the truck by the river, which was the location to pick the Cherry Bomb 500. After Sly had jumped in the TNT barrel, he and Neyla had walked the bomb to the entrance of the mouth. Along the way, Neyla had defeated and knocked out every Rhino guard that got in there way, to prevent them from throwing a knife at the explosive barrel and killing her raccoon in the process. She had also defeated every Baboon and Ibex guard with a swift strike from her whip as they walked up the stairs and turned left, where Murray had been waiting patiently for their arrival.

"Murray, you should probably get to Bentley and wait for us when Neyla and I get the second half of the Heart." Sly instructed, which surprised their hippo friend.

"Are you sure Sly? Cuz, I think it'd be better if I stayed with you and Neyla." Murray asked, since he felt he would be more helpful with them, when they confronted and faced Rajan.

"Sly and I will be alright Murray, we can take Rajan. After we snatch his half of the Heart, we'll catch up with you guys by using the trees." Neyla assured their friend and Murray nodded, showing he understood and respected their request.

The hippo had sprinted as fast as he could and after making sure Murray was at a safe enough distance, Sly had walked the Cherry Bomb 500 right next to the doors holding back the runoff and jumped out.

"Run Neyla!" The raccoon ordered as he and his tigress broke into a dash as they knew the runoff was going to flood the whole area!

The built up water from the destruction of the dam had flooded the entire Temple Grotto, just like Bentley predicted! The remaining guards patrolling the grounds were too slow to escape and had drowned from the uprising flood! Sly and Neyla had managed to climb up to the front gates and entrance to the Temple, while gasping in surprise, as they didn't expect the flood to reach near tree level and almost near the top of the hill...where Bentley and Murray were now stranded!

They had no way of reaching them after they defeated Rajan...and as of right on cue; the said spice dealer had stepped out through the front doors of the Temple and stared wide-eyed after seeing the grounds and Temple itself submerged in water! He was also carrying his staff, holding his half of the Clockwerk Heart! The spice dealer had climbed up the roof of the Temple and glared angrily down at the raccoon and tigress!

"Black clouds and thunder bolts! My beautiful spice Temple...gone, ruined! I will no longer hide while you vermin destroy my hard won empire! This jungle is mine!" Rajan cried out, pissed beyond words at the sight of his Temple and Grotto flooded, along with the fresh memory of humiliation which destroyed his reputation after losing his ancestral palace!

"Here I am King! Come face me Cooper! With Clockwerk's black heart I will show you true power! You and your pathetic friends are nothing! Come, face the mighty Rajan, Lord of these hills!" The spice dealer continued to cry out, determined to defeat and kill Sly and his gang for destroying his reputation, taking away his palace, the Clockwerk Wings and now both his Temple and spice operation!

"Do most criminals react this way after you and your friends agitate them Sly?" Neyla asked, amused by how dramatic Rajan had been right after he showed himself.

"More or less. The one thing you need to know about me and the guys Neyla, is that we've had years of practice at mastering the art of ticking people off." Sly answered, which earned another smile from his tigress.

"Let's do this babe, we get the final half of the Clockwerk Part and make our way to Bentley and Murray." He added, with a look of determination at getting Rajan's half of the Heart.

"I'm with you Ringtail. We'll rush him just we planned, you go left and I'll take the right." Neyla stated as bamboo shoots had shot up and grew from the soil on the bridge, which was perfect for them to Ninja Spire jump.

Only what both Sly and Neyla didn't know...was that two shadowy figures had secretly witnessed everything and were waiting for the right moment to strike. They had watched as the raccoon and tigress had Ninja Spire jumped from shoot to shoot, while timing the jumps and avoiding the lightning bolts Rajan fired from the Clockwerk Heart.

"Heh heh heh...Light's out Cooper." A familiar female voice stated while chuckling darkly, as she took aim and fired a precise paralyzing shot at Sly's direction!

"Neyla, n...!" Was all that Sly could say, after getting in position to jump Rajan...before the paralyzing shot had hit him dead on and lost his footing!

"Sly, no!" Neyla screamed in complete shock and horror, as she watched her raccoon lover fall off the shoot he had safely landed on before being shot by a familiar electric bolt round and he landed hard, flat on his stomach in the center of a large lily pond filled pit!

"I'm coming Ringtail!" She yelled, as she leaped off the baboon shoot she had landed on and landed safely on her feet in the pit.

Just as she was rushed over to her lover's side and check for a pulse, that was when an electric generated barrier had gotten in her way! That was when Rajan had leaped down into the pit... and stood face to face with the tigress who betrayed him and the Klaww Gang.

"So...it is true. You have joined forces with the Cooper Gang." The spice dealer snarled, while glaring with complete contempt at the tigress Arpeggio took under his wing as his former apprentice.

"Deactivate the barrier right now Rajan!" Neyla demanded, while glancing towards Sly unconscious form, worried if his injuries and the fall he just took were fatal.

"You are in no position to be giving or making demands Neyla! After I defeat and hand you over to Arpeggio, the punishment he has for you will be dire for your betrayal! But before that, I intend to savor every moment of beating you...maybe I'll even place you next to your weak boyfriend." Rajan countered angrily, stating and revealing that Arpeggio had a suitable punishment for the tigress for betraying their organization.

"I'm going to make you eat those words. No one insults the man I love and gets away with it!" The tigress stated, glaring at the tiger for insulting her raccoon but was relieved at the sight of seeing his chest move, showing he was still alive.

Neyla had used her swift athletic movement to avoid Rajan's slow but powerful swings with his staff. The tigress had made good use of the lily pads in the 'arena' as Rajan had summoned a lightning bolt and electrified the water...but was pointless as electricity had no effect on any form of plant life. She had landed a number of strong and swift blows from her whip, which caused Rajan to stumble backwards into the electric barrier! Several surviving Baboon and Ibex guards had somehow managed to escape the flooding and surrounded the top of the 'arena', watching and cheering for their boss to defeat the traitor.

"Get down here and defend your Lord and Master!" Rajan commanded and the remaining guards had jumped down, joining in the fray to even the odds to their boss's favor!

Neyla had groaned in annoyance and realized that it was Rajan who was in fact the pathetic one...he always had his men do everything for him. But Sly was different...he had no problem getting his hands dirty and fighting his own battles. But...the guards joining the fray had actually tipped the odds in her favor. With swift and accurate movement of her wrist, the tigress had lassoed her whip around the waist of either an unlucky Baboon or Ibex guard and threw them directly at Rajan, whom was caught by surprise and was dazed by the 'projectiles' Neyla was using against him.

Both Neyla and Rajan were becoming exhausted by all the fighting, as their face and foreheads were covered n sweat. The tigress had won the battle as she had successfully side stepped an upcoming downward slam from the spice dealer and dealt four swift strikes from her whip. As Rajan had stumbled backwards, Neyla had lassoed her whip around his waist and after putting what strength she had left in a strong tug...she had sent the spice dealer spinning at high speed and becoming shocked after colliding with the electric barrier!

"You...You...will never...stop the...Klaww Gang." Rajan muttered weakly, as the final blow, dizziness from the spinning and shock of the electricity had caused him to collapse hard onto his back, causing a loud 'SPLASH' after landing hard in the small body of water contained in the 'arena'. He had even let go of his staff and it rolled out of his hand, close to the tigress's feet.

"At last...Sly will be glad that we finally have the final half of the Clockwerk Heart." Neyla sighed while panting softly, trying to control her breathing. She picked up the staff, broke off the top end and removed the Heart, holding it in her hands.

That was when the electric field had vanished and the tigress didn't waste a second scurrying over to her raccoon boyfriend.

"Sly...Sly, can you hear me?" Neyla asked, while cradling Sly's head in her lap and the only response she got were weak and soft groans.

"Ney...Neyla...W-What happened?" Sly asked softly, slowly opening his eyes and was greeted by his tigress's beautiful face.

Before she could say anything...that was when Carmelita had appeared out of nowhere and looked down at them from the top of the 'arena'.

"Aw...tough break." The vixen stated, smiling down at the raccoon and tigress as they glanced up shocked at the sight of her before she landed in the pit as well!

"Carmelita? What are..." Neyla asked, surprised by how she found them so quickly...and was met with a right hook to her face, while Sly looked stunned beyond words!

"C-Carmelita! Wha..." Sly asked, confused and baffled after the vixen had sucker punched his tigress in the face!

"Shut up Cooper." Carmelita stated darkly, silencing the raccoon with a swift and strong kick to his face, rendering him unconscious again!

She had glanced towards Neyla, whom was shocked by her ex-partner's actions and when she tried to stand up...Carmelita had knocked her out as well, performing and landing a strong roundhouse kick that connected with the back of the tigress's head! After jumping back up to the top of the pit...the vixen was greeted by none other than the Contessa.

"Feel better after hurting Cooper and our former 'colleague'?" The spider asked with a dark smile after seeing the now unconscious tigress and raccoon, along with Rajan in lily pond filled pit. She had even brought her elite Shadow Guard to apprehend them.

"Well...it was a start." Carmelita answered, smiling back with the same dark grin on her face.

"Men, get down there and arrest those three criminals!" The Contessa ordered her Shadow Guard and the head Vulture, obviously the leader of the other two, had gave a simple salute before they glided down and started placing neck and wrist shackles around them.

The leader of the Shadow Guard had confiscated the second half of the Heart and showed it to the Contessa, giving off a squawk, as if asking what they were to do with the Heart.

"Inspector Fox, would it be alright if I kept custody of Rajan's half of the Clockwerk Heart? I promise to hand it over when you arrive to transfer Neyla back to Interpol HQ in Paris from my prison." The Contessa requested, while secretly having no true intention of returning the Heart or tigress to the vixen and Interpol.

"It's alright with me. Just have that bitch Neyla patched up when I arrive to bring her back to Interpol. Also have that two timing thieving bastard in a cell he'll never escape from." Carmelita stated, while agreeing to let the Contessa keep the other half of the robotic organ and reminding herself that Barkley wanted Neyla brought in alive.

 _~ Back with Murray and Bentley ~_

Both Bentley and Murray watched in complete shock and disbelief, as they witnessed Carmelita and the Contessa brutally arrest Sly and Neyla. Both the raccoon and tigress glared angrily at both policewomen, but more precisely...at Carmelita, who smiled smugly as she confiscated both Sly's cane and Neyla's whip. The Contessa's Shadow Guard had simply shoved them into walking.

"I never should've left Sly and Neyla! I should've stayed with them!" Murray cried out softly so Carmelita, the Contessa and her Shadow Guard couldn't hear him! He had blamed himself for not sticking with them.

"Murray, it's not your fault and it was a smart move that Sly and Neyla made...if you had stayed and fought Rajan, you would've been captured by that good for nothing backstabbing cop, Inspector Fox!" Bentley stated, while trying to calm his hippo friend and pointing out their friends made the right call.

"We've got to rescue them." The hippo stated, as he and Bentley needed their childhood friend and team leader back, along with Neyla, who proved herself worthy of becoming one of them.

"And we will big guy. Let's get back to the van and we'll cook up a plan to rescue them and recover the 2nd half to the Clockwerk Heart." The turtle stated, as he was just as a determined as Murray to rescue Sly and Neyla, along with stealing back Rajan's half of the Heart, which was now in the Contessa's clutches.

Both Murray and Bentley had doubled back for the team van, hacking away the vines and brush that got in their way. Thanks to Bentley's photographic memory, he remembered the exact route they traveled on foot when they first learned and found the Temple. After getting in the van and placing their half of the Heart in the back with the Wings and Tail Feathers, Murray had drove at high speed with Bentley bracing himself at how fast the hippo was driving!

There were three things on Bentley and Murray's minds: rescuing Sly and Neyla, getting back the second half of the Heart and more importantly...getting payback on both the Contessa and Carmelita for hurting their friends.

 **A/N: And that's the ending to the Predator Awakes episode! The next upcoming chapter will be the first part in the Jailbreak Episode. Please be sure to review and have a good day/night. Until next time, bye.**


	11. Jailbreak Pt 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any of the characters**

 **A/N: Hello everyone, here is the 1st part to the Jail Break episode, with a few surprising twists; mainly Murray will be assisting Bentley with his jobs trying to break Sly out of the Contessa's prison.**

 **Reviews and comments will be appreciated**

 **Chapter 11: Jail Break Pt. 1**

 _'It took three sleepless days of data crunching, but thanks to the Intel that Neyla provided us, Murray and I were able to discover the location of where she and Sly were being held...locked away in the mysterious towers and dark streets of Prague.'_ Bentley stated in his mind, typing away feverishly and nonstop behind his mobile computer work station in the back of the team van.

He and Murray had been unable to sleep, due to the horrific images of witnessing their plan to steal Rajan's half of the Clockwerk Heart being botched by Carmelita. They still couldn't believe their own eyes after seeing the electric round that struck their friend and leader had came from the vixen! Not to mention, they could only image what she had done to both Sly and Neyla after the tigress defeated Rajan while the raccoon had been rendered unconscious from the fall.

Murray had been blaming himself for leaving them unprotected, but Bentley assured his hippo friend that it was the right call. The turtle explained to his friend that if he had stayed with Sly and Neyla then he would've been captured as well and he would've been all by himself. Murray knew that Bentley was right, but still couldn't help but feel guilty for not staying with them like he should've.

 _'Unfortunately...they are the recent unwilling guests and prisoners of Interpol's most renowned prison warden...the Contessa!'_ The turtle stated, while remembering the horrifying sight of the spider's face, along with Murray, whom had been slightly unnerved after seeing her in the flesh with their own eyes.

 _'While she had started out as a criminal psychology student, she entered a whirlwind romance after meeting and wedding a retired war veteran whom became a wealthy aristocrat.'_ Bentley stated while going over the background of the Contessa's history and immediately found an article that she had been married to a retired high ranking military officer.

 _'But sadly...the marriage had been short-lived. As...the General mysteriously died from what had appeared to be 'natural causes' three weeks after the wedding.'_ The turtle continued, as he found another article, although shocked after reading about how the Contessa's husband had mysteriously died three weeks after the ceremony.

 _'After the General's funeral, the widowed Contessa had immediately put her highly educational intellect and newly acquired estate, passed onto her from her deceased husband's will to work by opening a criminal rehabilitation center.'_ Bentley stated, while scrolling past the article that had been published about the General's funeral and showing a photo of the Contessa herself, standing over her husband's grave with her hands behind her back.

The turtle had moved onto the next file regarding the Contessa and pulled up the schematics about her prison; studying the security systems station inside and outside the prison cell blocks, grounds and surrounding area, which appeared to be a small town. The file also contained information about the guards that served the spider; Vultures, Bats and Wolves. The file about the Wolf guards was what interested Bentley, as they had a special ability to disguise themselves as statues and attack unsuspecting targets.

 _'Her pioneering use of hypnotherapy, especially while interrogating high level criminals, had yielded promising results and prestigiously earned her a prominent position inside Interpol.'_ Bentley continued to read about how the Contessa had built her reputation, by using hypnotherapy while conducting interrogation and therapy sessions with the prisoners that Interpol had delivered to her.

He had even found articles and letters of recommendations regarding the Contessa's reputation: how a number of released convicts had readjusted returning to society and hadn't committed or returned to a life crime after their release.

"Oh, no. This isn't good. This is definitely not good!" The turtle gasped and shouted out loud, which earned a look of surprise from Murray after he quickly glanced back to his friend's work station!

"Bentley, what's the matter? What's wrong!" The hippo cried out, as he pulled into a swift stop and parked the team van on the side of an abandoned road!

"Murray, you better come take a look at this!" Bentley answered as he glanced back towards his friend and teammate after he felt the hippo making a sudden stop!

Murray had climbed out of the driver's side seat and dashed around the back of the team van. He then opened the back doors and climbed in the back, while carefully avoiding knocking over the Clockwerk Parts they had in their possession.

"What is it?" The hippo asked, while approaching and standing behind Bentley and seeing him scrolling through the files of Contessa.

"You'd might want to take a look at this article I just discovered!" The turtle answered with a sense of panic and horror in his voice!

Murray had became worried about what caused his friend to become so distraught and slowly glanced up at the screen of Bentley's main computer. That was when he spotted the article Bentley spoke of and his eye's widened to what it read; a police investigation into the death of the Contessa's husband. The highlighted section of the report was what made both Murray and Bentley's skin crawl: _'Recently deceased wealthy aristocrat dies three weeks after marriage ceremony. Police investigate probable poison theory after local medical examiner found small traces of a poison mixed into his drink. Investigation closed, due to little to no evidence to confirm.'_

Bentley and Murray had looked at each other, with a look of shock and horror on their faces to what they just read and learned.

"Bentley...the local police thought that the C-Contessa p-poisoned h-her own...her own..." The hippo stuttered, not believing what kind of woman the spider really was...especially after learning she had supposedly and allegedly poisoned her own husband!

"Oh, God. If she was capable of murdering her own husband..." The turtle muttered softly, but paused as he and Murray looked at each other again.

"We've got to get Sly and Neyla out of there, now!" He exclaimed, which was enough to have Murray sprint out the back of the team van and climbed back into the driver's seat!

"Buckle up Bentley!" The hippo ordered and the turtle did just that after shutting off his computer and climbing over the passenger seat. After buckling up, that was when Murray had punched it and they drove off like a bat of hell!

 _'Hang on Sly. We're coming for you and Neyla!'_ Bentley stated with a strong sense of determination of getting them out of the Contessa's prison!

After everything Neyla had done for them, there was no way he and Murray were going to abandon her, especially after proving her trustworthiness to join their team. They just couldn't help but worry about what had happened to Sly and Neyla the past three days they'd been in the Contessa's prison. If the spider was capable of killing her husband...God only knows what she had done and planned to do to the raccoon and tigress.

After a single day of non-stop driving at high speed, both Murray and Bentley had arrived in Prague. After setting up a safe house in an old abandoned building near and across train tracks with a state of the art computer controlled electromagnetic train passing through. Both the hippo and turtle had finished setting up what they needed; the table for Bentley to place his laptop and the slideshow projector for their mission debriefings. Before they headed outside, they purchased a new gadget off Thief Net to use out in the field; the Adrenaline Burst for Bentley and Atlas Strength to Murray.

Once they were all set, Murray and Bentley stepped outside and couldn't help but feel nervous...especially after seeing how spooky the eerie fog made the empty streets and hearing the approach of the train traveling along the tracks near their hideout.

"Where do you think we should start Bentley?" The hippo asked, since he knew his friend had a good idea on how they could start gathering Intel.

"We should start by making our way to the Contessa's house big guy. If we're lucky, we might be able to pick up a few leads on where to find Sly and Neyla." The turtle stated as he knew heading straight to their main target's residence was risky and dangerous, but was worth it, as they needed to learn on where their friends were being held inside the prison.

"Alright, sounds like a plan little buddy." Murray stated, as he knew their current plan was risky, but was worth finding out where Sly and Neyla were being held and interrogated.

While they made their way to the RV point, both the hippo and turtle had cautiously navigated the eerie fog covered streets of the town. They had skillfully and stealthily avoided the Vultures and Wolf guards patrolling the streets, but fought once they had been spotted by the light of the Vultures necklace torch or if a Wolf guard smelled them. Fortunately, Murray had no problem doing all the fighting for him and Bentley! His powerful punches had knocked the wolves out and used them, along with wooden barrels and boxes as projectiles against the Vultures!

As they neared the bridge and walked up the stone steps, Bentley and Murray stopped in their tracks after seeing something they didn't expect...a single tank patrolling the bridge and circling the Contessa's house!

"Oh, c'mon! She has a tank?!" The hippo cried out exasperated after seeing the heavily armed and dangerous military vehicle!

"This is definitely not! We don't have anything that can damage that thing!" The turtle cried out just as exasperated, as he and Murray didn't have anything powerful enough to damage the Contessa's tank!

"But...maybe we don't have anything to worry about Murray." He stated as he studied the tank's movements more carefully.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Murray asked, as he confused by his turtle friend's choice of words.

"Well...just look: that tank is not crossing over the bridge. It's only circling the front and back of the house!" Bentley explained and the hippo slowly nodded, as he noticed the tank was simply patrolling around the house and not crossing back and forth on the bridge.

They both waited for the tank to pass the front of the Contessa's house and as it neared the right side of the creepy building, they made their move. As they sprinted across the bridge, they spotted eight pedestals; four each spread out on the left and right of the bridge...and each pedestal held a statue, carved as a wolf wielding a mace in their right paw.

As they crossed the center of the bridge, that was when one of the statues had shattered and revealed to be a Wolf guard! It snarled angrily after jumping off the pedestal and Murray had gotten into his fighting stance. While the hippo had dealt with the wolf, Bentley had been their look out; keeping an eye on the tank and spotted it making the turn and going behind the house.

The fight between Murray and the wolf guard didn't last long: when the canine had attempted to pummel the hippo overhead with its mace, he had delivered a powerful right uppercut underneath the wolf's jaw. He had then delivered his powerful roundhouse uppercut; knocking the poor wolf out and it gazed at the stars, while groaning and whimpering in pain from the hippo's strong powerful fists.

Murray and Bentley had skillfully climbed up a rusted and dust covered Victorian era stagecoach that been parked outside the front entrance of the Contessa's house. After they had quietly climbed and ran up the walkway built around the roof of the spider's house, they stopped as a single cob-web that would be ideal for using to jump higher and reaching higher ledges of the houses and other buildings in the small town.

The turtle had leaped up after bouncing on the spider threaded cob-web and Murray had decided to remain on the walkway. He and Bentley had seen there was no room for both of them near the parabolic dish that had been installed on the roof before they crossed the bridge. After reaching the RV point, the turtle had took out his binocucom and glanced directly at the prison and seeing the Contessa climbing up the wall.

"Ah-ha, it appears the Contessa is out making her rounds." Bentley stated to himself while secretly glaring at the cold blooded murderer whom, no doubt in his mind, had done horrible things to both Sly and Neyla after capturing them in India.

"Wait a second...the feathers on my sleep darts vibrate near sound. If I maintain my position on top of this parabolic dish, I should be able to tone in and hear that frequency at a distance!" The turtle stated, as he realized that he could use the radio frequency of the Contessa's dish with his sleep darts.

"This is great! If I time my aiming perfectly, I should be able to tag the Contessa with my darts and listen in on whatever she say! She might even bring up on where she's holding Sly and Neyla." Bentley concluded, as he couldn't pass up the opportunity of using a new method of eavesdropping on the Contessa, especially since he and Murray could learn where their friends were being held!

But...it would not be easy, for the Contessa had made it a habit of climbing up the roofs of the guard's observation towers on the prison walls, along with jumping and swinging from different positions on the walls! However, Bentley had refused to give up and got lucky as the spider had made a habit of talking to herself...and he was able to hear perfectly.

"The Klaww Gang has been compromised and spice shipments have been all but stopped! Argh, I never would have joined, especially if that traitorous Neyla had not screwed us over for Cooper and his pathetic gang! Both she and her boyfriend's pathetic sense of loyalty and devotion for each other will be their greatest weakness for me to exploit. And more importantly, thank goodness for that imbecile Inspector Fox! All it took to make sure she never suspected a thing was by taking advantage of her dislike towards Neyla and frustration/humiliation of never capturing Cooper!" The Contessa said to herself after stopping on the far right side of the prison wall, disgusted for how their spice operation had been temporarily delayed after she was forced to arrest Rajan to protect her cover, but also pleased with capturing Sly and Neyla and more importantly: how she manipulated Carmelita by preying on her dark secret desires to get rid of the raccoon and tigress.

Bentley could not believe what he had just learned: the spider was a secret member of the Klaww Gang! He wondered how Interpol could not know any of this about the woman: how she allegedly killed her husband and was a secret agent of the Klaww Gang! He waited for the Contessa to stop somewhere else and tagged her, after she landed on top of the roof a guard tower on the far left side of the wall.

"Those idiots at Interpol! They keep sending me criminals and I keep making money! How come no one had ever thought of this before? Hypnotize convicts after they are mentally weakened and force them to reveal where they have hidden their fortune! I'm a genius! If it weren't were Cooper, Neyla and their friends, I'd have more spice to help with the hypnosis." The spider stated to herself, pleased with how she easily manipulated Interpol and how they never once suspected or knew anything about how she used her 'therapy sessions' to coax the criminals they sent her way to learn where they hid their money!

The turtle had felt a sheer sense of disgust after learning what a disgrace the Contessa truly was to her so called 'profession'; manipulating Interpol into sending her convicts and using hypnosis into hypnotizing them into telling her where they hid their loot! Bentley had tagged the spider a third time; where she had swung and landed on the roof of another guard tower, this time in the center of the wall.

"Damn Neyla, she refuses to consume any food covered in spice; throwing it onto the floor or at the guards! At this rate, I'll be out of spice period! The guards have angrily attacked her and she's been escorted to the infirmary twice than the other inmates put together. She knows that I have no intention of delivering her back to Interpol and those idiots will never figure it out. I'll use her greatest weakness against her: threatening to either hurt or kill her boyfriend, Cooper. She'll beg to not have anything happen to him...and she'll be more easy to control. Her pathetic love for that raccoon will be her greatest downfall." The Contessa stated, smiling sadistically at how she intended to break Neyla into complying with what she had in mind for her.

The turtle glared with deep hatred at the spider, how she planned on hurting or killing Sly into breaking Neyla's spirit. He quickly realized that the Contessa was possibly the worst woman in the world: preying on people's weaknesses, their insecurities and feelings for their loved ones! Bentley had tagged the spider one that last time.

"That Sly Cooper; such a complex and rebellious mind, along with that charismatic personality...it's a small wonder Neyla fell in love with him, he's her intellectual match. But...a month or two in 'the hole' should no doubtingly break his spirit. Let him squat there with no human contact, sunlight, food or water week after week. He's seen that the guards stationed around the walls all carry motion detectors...there's no chance or hope of escape. Slowly the reality of his captivity will set in...and I will be able to work on his mind." The Contessa stated, smiling at what she had planned for Sly; starving him and having no human contact in 'the hole'.

While she had walked on the wall, Bentley glared at the woman before she jumped and swung out of sight and he jumped down from the parabolic dish as well.

"Murray, you are never going to believe this." The turtle started off softly, so he and his friend wouldn't attract any of the Bats or Wolves on the street below.

"What is it Bentley? Did you learn anything?" The hippo asked, while noticing the stern and firm look on his friend and teammate's face.

"Yes, I learned where Sly is being held...but I learned something more about the Contessa as well." Bentley answered, with the firm look on his face.

"How so?" Murray asked, puzzled by what else the turtle learned about the spider!

"Murray, the Contessa is not just a murderer; she a fraud! She's not even a real psychiatrist and has committed the most heinous crime: she tortures the inmates in her prison before putting them under hypnosis and manipulates them into telling her where they have stashed the money they've made off with over the years! It dishonors both law enforcement and thieves at the same time time!" The turtle answered, revealing what he had learned about the spider while eavesdropping on her to Murray, who stared with his mouth opened in shock and anger!

"Why that good for nothing fake! If she has done something to Sly or Neyla...I'm going to tear her apart, limb from limb personally!" The hippo shouted, with great ire in his voice towards the sadistic and deranged spider while imaging that he was ripping the Contessa's legs apart from her body!

"I'd pay big money to see that. But first we need to figure out how to break Sly out of 'the hole'." Bentley stated with a more cool head, while secretly hoping of witnessing Murray tearing the Contessa apart himself firsthand.

"How are we going to do that Bentley?" His friend and teammate asked, while figuring 'the hole' was the name of the cell that Sly being held in.

"Let's double back to the safe house. I'm positive we can use the electromagnetic train to our advantage." The turtle answered, while explaining to how his plan involved the train.

"Alright, lead the way." Murray answered, as he let Bentley take the lead and followed right behind him.

After leaping off the roof of the Contessa's house, the hippo and turtle had raced across the bridge. They sighed in relief, as the tank had just circled the front of the house and made the turn to circle the back. They were also fortunate, that none of the statues were Wolf guards in disguise and ran across the bridge without attracting any unwanted attention. Murray had taken out two Vulture guards that spotted them when they almost close to their hideout.

The battle hadn't taken long; the hippo had lifted up a sturdy wooden barrel over his head and tossed it at the first Vulture; connecting with its head. The bird had squawked in shock, as the barrel had exploded into small splinters before stumbling backwards onto its back. The second Vulture squawked in complete shock after seeing its fellow guard rendered unconscious! Before it could even fire a shot from its crossbow, it felt a strong fist connect with its beak and stumbled backwards as well! Murray had lifted up the first unconscious Vulture and tossed it at it's fellow guard; knocking them both out for the count!

"The winner and still champion of the world...'The Murray'!" Bentley playfully announced, chuckling at how useless the Contessa's guards were!

"You got that right little buddy. No idiot guard can defeat 'The Murray!" The hippo stated, also chuckling at how pathetic the Vultures, Bat and Wolf guards were.

After they reached the second RV point, they both watched as the electric nodes along the train tracks had provided electricity as the train passed on by.

"So what's the plan Bentley?" Murray asked, as he remembered his friend mention his plan involved using the train.

"That computer is part of a control system linked to the electromagnetic train. If I can hack into all the terminals along the train tracks, I should be able to access the speed limit and increase the speed of the train...which will doubtingly turn it into a giant projectile!" Bentley answered slowly so Murray could understand the plan piece by piece and they glanced up the prison walls, to the area where Sly was currently being held prisoner.

"Without question, the impact of the train crashing through the prison wall should create a hole large enough for Sly to escape through!" He stated, concluding his plan to break their friend and team leader out!

"So you're saying if you hack the computers, you'll be able to make the train go faster, fly off the tracks and crash into the prison wall?! Nice!" The hippo asked, while trying to understand the plan in his own words while nodding in approval!

"You leave the guards to me Bentley! I'll keep them away from you will you hack the computers!" Murray added, showing he would be than happy to fight the guards himself while his friend hacked the terminals.

"Thanks big guy. We'll also have to be careful though, especially while walking on the tracks when the train passes by!" Bentley stated while reminding Murray the train would be going faster, which would crossing the tracks more dicey.

They waited to cross as the train was passing through once again. After it had passed, Bentley and Murray had crossed over and headed to the first terminal, which was at the train stop, that was conveniently across from their safe house! Bentley had gone straight to work, hacking the computer while Murray had kept a look out for guards trying to stop them. Hacking the computers was easier side than done; as the security programs proved to be a noteworthy challenge for the turtle.

After hacking the first terminal, they made their way to the second, which was on the bridge of the tracks. After hacking the second terminal and waiting for the train to pass on by while traveling much faster, Bentley had safely made it across and headed to the third terminal with Murray right behind him. As they approached the third computer, they had accidentally walked past a Vulture guard's neck torch light!

Murray had reacted faster than the Vulture; before it could get a shot off with its crossbow, he had landed a powerful right uppercut to its beak! The guard had stumbled backwards, but quickly recovered and countered with a strong blow across the face with its right wing, which sent the hippo staggering a good few steps back. Unfortunately for them, all the fighting was attracting the neighboring guards in the area, but Murray continued to fight bravely!

While his friend was fighting the guards, Bentley had hacked the third terminal, near a street lamp next to the tunnel where the train obviously passed through. Hacking the third terminal was more challenging than the previous two, as this one had a more advanced security system. As Bentley was hacking the computer, Murray had defeated the Vulture with a swift and powerful right hook, knocking it unconscious! He had then turned his attention to the two Wolf and single Bat guards that had joined in the fray! The hippo had landed a powerful left hook, rendering the first wolf out cold while blocking a head smash from the second wolf's mace.

After he landed a right uppercut, sending the wolf upward in the air Murray, was caught off guard as the Bat had landed a right hook, just as strong as his! The hippo had cried out after the bat's last second sneak attack and the wolf he had struck with the uppercut, had landed safely on its four legs and pounced on him! Murray glared angrily while smirking, since the guards working for the Contessa were giving him more of a challenge than Dimitri's or Rajan's. He had landed another powerful punch, connect to the wolf's face and knocked it out! The bat had also shared the same fate, as it attempted to land a powerful aerial dive...which ended with its face connecting to the hippo's right fist! Teeth and fangs had been sprawled out, as the four guards were moaning in pain, while listening to the birdies.

Murray took in deep breathes to control his breathing, while softly wincing at the claw marks on his face that he received from the Bat and blow from the Vulture. He then joined Bentley, whom had finished hacking the 3rd terminal.

"You okay there big guy?" The turtle asked softly, while wincing upon seeing the claw marks on his friend's face.

"Yeah, I'll be alright Bentley. These are just scrapes compared to blows I got while fighting Rajan's men back at his palace." The hippo assured his friend, while appreciating his concern for the fresh scars he received while facing the guards.

"That leaves three more terminals to go. The train has picked up speed by at least 50-60%." Bentley stated, while informing his friend on their progress and revealing they were halfway finished.

Without any further delay, Bentley and Murray continued forward with their plan. They had to press their backs up against the walls in the train tunnel, while waiting for the train to pass by, which did insanely quickly! After the train had passed on by, the two friends made their way to the 4th terminal was on the left side of the tracks on the bridge. After hacking the 4th terminal and sprinting through the tunnel, while avoid the fast moving train at the last second...Bentley went to work on the last two terminals, which stationed near parallel behind the Contessa's house!

Both Bentley and Murray had made sure to avoid the tank, but were grateful that the spotlight attached to the main turret hadn't noticed them. After the tank had passed on by and began circling the front of the house, the turtle immediately hacked the 5th terminal and swiftly moved onto the 6th and final one. After hacking the final computer, the train had leaped off the tracks and flew right into the air, with Murray looking on in amazement!

"What a beautiful trajectory!" Bentley stated, while witnessing the train fly off the tracks and approaching the prison wall where 'the hole' no doubtingly was located!

Both the turtle and hippo cheered in glee, as the train had crashed through the wall, just like Bentley predicted!

"Bulls-eye!" Both Bentley and Murray cried out, while high fiving each other after what they had witnessed!

"Now for the final part!" The turtle stated before he took off running, with his friend right behind him.

After avoiding tank, yet again and crossing the bridge safely without being ambushed by Wolf guards, the turtle and hippo had climbed up a carriage on the opposite end of the bridge and onto the roof a small building. Once he and Murray had reached the RV point, Bentley had reached behind him and took out the controls to his RC attack chopper.

"All the guards along the prison walls are all outfitted with motion tracking sensors. There will be no way for Sly to escape undetected...unless I take them out with my RC chopper." Bentley explained to Murray that Sly's only chance to escape from the prison was by eliminating the guards station on the walls.

"Good luck taking those birds out Bentley. But be careful, you can bet those guards will notice you chopper and try to wreck it!" Murray stated, happy that Sly will be able to make his escape and that they would see him soon!

Without wasting a second, the turtle had launched his RC chopper into the air and approached the prison walls. After flying overhead the first guard, the little RC chopper had released two small bombs; that knocked the Vulture guard unconscious and destroyed his motion sensor device. But that was when the real battle began...as the prison was on high alert and the remaining six guards started firing on the RC chopper!

Bentley had grimaced as he had monitored the damage his chopper was taking while he piloted and bombarded the next two Vultures. He had also made sharp turns, as the guards had fired missiles towards his chopper! The chopper had managed to avoid the enemy missiles, but still damage from the guards firing upon it! Bentley had silently begged for his chopper to finish the job, as he had took out three more of the guards and destroyed their motion tracking devices! After he defeated the 7th and final guard, it was all clear for Sly to make his escape!

"Yes, the motion sensor is off line!" The turtle shouted in glee and cried out in surprise, as Murray pulled him up and into a strong hug!

"Great job little buddy! We did it!" The hippo shouted, while congratulating his friend on taking out the guards outfitted with the motion sensor devices!

 _~ With Sly ~_

While Sly was resting inside his 'cell', he couldn't help but worry about what the Contessa had probably done to Neyla, after he and his tigress were brutally attacked by Carmelita before being arrested back in India.

 _'Carmelita...when I get out of this cell and my hands on you, I'll make sure you get thrown down a dark hole just like this one!'_ The raccoon angrily stated, while glaring with deep ire at the vixen he once had feelings for!

Sly had no idea what had happened to the once hard working and honest cop; Carmelita had devoted her life protecting and upholding the law! The other thing he just couldn't figure out was...how the vixen had learned about him and Neyla being a couple. He still could not believe his own eyes after the way she had coldly punched his Neyla before kicking him in the face and rendering him unconscious! He also knew that it was Carmelita who had shot him while he and his girlfriend tried to steal Rajan's portion of the Clockwerk Heart!

 _'Wait, what...the door is opening?'_ The raccoon asked, while glancing surprised that the door to 'the hole' was automatically opening!

Without wasting a second, Sly had raced out of his cramped up 'cell' and out into the sunlight! After he exited and stepped out into the small prison yard, that was when his Binocucom had went off. Apparently, the guards weren't smart enough to confiscate all his gear! He had even stolen his cane back before they had locked up in that 'cell'!

"Sly can you read me?" Bentley asked as he was trying to make contact with him.

"How I've missed that sensuous voice of yours Bent." The raccoon stated softly, smiling after seeing his friend's face and hearing his nasal voice the past three days of being locked up!

"It's good to hear your voice too buddy. Do you see that hook dangling above the train? It's your only means of escape." Bentley instructed his friend that using the hook and climbing over the train was his only chance to escape the prison!

"Murray and I have already set up a safe house and I've already downloaded the GPS coordinates into your Binocucom. We'll rendezvous there." The turtle added, informing Sly that he and Murray had a safe house already set and telling him they'd be waiting for him there.

"Wow, you and Murray have really thought of everything." Sly stated, deeply impressed at how prepared his two best friends were to rescue him from the Contessa's clutches.

"Thanks for breaking me out." The raccoon added, showing he was grateful for Bentley and Murray coming for him.

"Yeah, well...Murray and I know you would do the exact same for us. Plus...you know the old saying, 'If you can't count on a friend to bust out of jail, what kind of a friend are they?" The turtle stated softly, knowing that Sly wouldn't have hesitated to break him or the hippo out of prison, no matter how hopeless or impossible it would seem.

"Truer words were never said...Wizard." Sly stated softly, while calling Bentley by the code name he gave himself during the Cairo Museum job which he intentionally got wrong.

After latching his cane onto the hook, climbing over the train and out through the hole...Sly was finally free! He had leaped off from the high ledge outside the prison, while skillfully landing softly on a lamp post with his Ninja Spire jump. He had stealthily made his way to the safe house...where he saw Bentley and Murray come running from a different direction to the hideout as well.

"Please tell me this isn't a dream." Sly stated, smiling softly while approaching his two childhood best friends and team members.

"It's us buddy. It's real." Murray answered for him and Bentley, as they and the raccoon had embraced in friendly hug; happy upon seeing their friend and leader.

"You guys...Neyla is still locked up in there. We need to get her out." The raccoon stated as he glanced back to the prison.

"And we will Sly, but first we need to rest up. Let's try to catch some sleep and we come up with a plan to break her out too." Bentley promised his raccoon friend with Murray nodding firmly, while also agreeing with the turtle plan to rest up.

Without any argument from Sly, the three reunited friends had entered their hideout and tried to catch up on some well deserved. He could also tell that Bentley and Murray really needed it, as he noticed the bags underneath their eyes. The raccoon had eventually closed his eyes and went to sleep, while silently praying that Neyla was alright in that nightmare of a prison.

 **A/N: There it is everyone, the first half to the Prison Break job. I'm sorry for the long wait, the last two weekends have been really busy and insane. I've been juggling between work, spending quality time with parents and finding time to work on my Fanfic stories. I'll try to work on the second half probably some time either this or next weekend. Until then, please be sure to comment and review. Bye.**


	12. Jailbreak Pt 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any of the characters**

 **A/N: Hello everyone, here is the second half to the Jail Break episode with a few surprising twists; Neyla will be taking Murray's place in the Big House Brawl job and Murray will be assisting Bentley during the Disguise Bridge mission.**

 **Reviews and comments will be appreciated**

 **Chapter 12: Jail Break Pt. 2**

Morning had arrived much sooner than planned as Sly and his team were still sleeping in their own quarters inside the safe house. Bentley and Murray were pleased with themselves for breaking their friend and leader out of the Contessa's prison...but they couldn't help but worry about Neyla. The tigress had been on their minds, especially Sly's as he couldn't help but feel guilty for letting his girlfriend/lover down. He promised his tigress that he would never let Arpeggio or anybody else hurt her...and it was a promise he failed to keep. He could only hope and pray that she was alright in that nightmare of a 'prison', along with his friends.

After Sly and his friends had finally woken up, they had a big breakfast and listened as Bentley had put together a slideshow presentation.

"Okay guys, here's the situation...I've done some serious database hacking in the prison's main computer and discovered that Neyla is being held in Cell Block D." The turtle started off with a slide of a Vulture guard patrolling the uphill path to the prison's main gate and followed by another slide, of a building in the center of prison courtyard.

"Getting her out will be difficult, even though she's proven to hold her own...I overheard the Contessa mention that she's been beaten multiple times by the guards and escorted to the infirmary." Bentley added slowly, as he and Murray had witnessed Sly glance down after he heard him say that his girlfriend had been attacked inside the prison.

"The first step of breaking Neyla out will be by having her moved into an isolated cell far away from the other inmates." The turtle further added, while explaining the plan on breaking their friend out, followed by a slide of the solitary confinement section of the tigress's cell block.

"The second step will be having Sly collecting a sample of the Contessa's encryption algorithm..." He stated with a slide of another Vulture guard posted in front of a security alarm and keypad console.

"...Don't worry...I'll explain later." Bentley added with a deadpan look on his face, after seeing the baffled and clueless expressions on Sly's and Murray's faces.

"For the third step, Sly; you'll need to shadow the Contessa and pickpocket a set of keys and patrol log off her, but watch out for her pack of body guards!" He continued on with the presentation, with two different slides of the spider; one of her alone and the second with two Vultures right behind her.

Both Sly and Murray glared hatefully at the photograph of the Contessa, as they intended to make her pay for what she put the raccoon through and had done to Neyla. Bentley had noticed on how they glared at the photo of the spider and he couldn't really blame them; as he despised the corrupt 'psychiatrist' as well.

"The fourth step; will be Murray watching my back and fending off guards while I plant explosives around the bridge, which will effectively cut off the conduits that supply power into the prison's main security system!" Bentley added, while presenting a slide of the bridge leading to the Contessa's house.

"The fifth and final step, Sly will have to find a way to deactivate the Contessa's giant attack robot." The turtle concluded the presentation with one final slide of the spider's alleged 'attack robot'...which was disguised as a typical water tower!

"Attack...robot?" Murray asked with a confused look on his face, while the raccoon simply rolled his eyes, showing he thought their friend was losing his mind from lack of sleep.

"I'm serious here Sly! The Contessa does have a giant attack robot!" Bentley exclaimed, showing he was dead serious about the 'tower tower' being a threat to their plan!

"She simply had it designed to resemble an actual tower tower!" He added with one last slide of the 'water tower', only this slide had yellow ink markings to resemble 'evil looking eyes' and a mechanical 'mouth with razor sharp teeth'.

After the presentation was over, Sly decided to head out into the field for his job assignments, but was stopped as Murray had placed a gentle and assuring hand on his right shoulder.

"We know you're worried about Neyla, Sly and so are we. We're gonna get her outta there, if it's the last thing we do." The hippo stated, while reassuring his friend that they'd come through for the tigress, especially since he and Bentley knew how much she meant to him.

"Thanks Murray...I appreciate it. You too Bentley." The raccoon answered back, showing he appreciated their devotion into wanting to free his tigress from the Contessa's clutches.

"Don't mention it Sly...we'd do anything you'd ask of us. And there's no way we'd turn our backs on Neyla...especially since she's one of us now." His turtle friend replied, stating he and Murray would do anything the raccoon would ask of them...and they'd do the same for Neyla, as she had proven to be officially part of the Cooper Gang.

After exiting the safe house, Sly had made his way to the first RV point, which was not far too as it located on a boat near a small dock by the river. He pulled out his Binocucom and contacted Bentley.

"Okay Sly, in order to get Neyla out we'll need her to get thrown into solitary confinement. That pipe will most likely lead you to her cell block. Try to locate her and convey the plan." The turtle stated while he and Sly had found his only means to infiltrating the prison; a drain pipe that was flushing water out into the river, which conveniently stopped.

"...After that, it's all up to Neyla." He added and concluded; stating that after Sly delivered the plan to the tigress, it'd be all up to her to get thrown into solitary...assuming if she still had any energy left to fight.

"Alright, I'm headed inside." The raccoon said simply, while hoping that his tigress lover was alright and secretly vowed to make the Contessa pay for whatever she did to his Neyla.

After putting his Binocucom away, Sly had easily crossed the river; Ninja Spire jumping over the logs floating and swinging from the hooks below the prison. He had crawled into the drain pipe and navigated the vents within the concrete walls. It didn't take him long to locate his Neyla's designated cell; after making a right turn he spotted a glimpse of the exercise room of Cell Block D and his tigress lying on a filthy cot.

"Psst, Neyla. Neyla!" The raccoon whispered, hoping his tigress girlfriend could hear him.

"Wha...Sly?" The tigress asked, while slowly siting up after hearing her raccoon lover's voice.

Neyla had groaned and winced in pain from the previous beating she received from the Vultures guards yesterday. But the good news was that she had managed to steal her whip back; which meant she could probably perform her part of the mission.

"Where are you?" She asked while glancing around her empty, single holding cell while trying not to attract any unwanted attention from the Wolf inmates pacing around the workout center.

"I'm over here babe; in the back wall." Sly answered back softly, so his girlfriend knew where he was.

"Sly...you have no idea how glad I am to see you!" Neyla stated after approaching the back wall and smiling after seeing her raccoon after being separated the past four days after India!

"I'm glad to see you too beautiful." The raccoon replied while smiling back, but couldn't help but feel angry and disappointed with himself...especially after seeing how still injured his tigress lover was when she walked up to him in the vent.

Sly's blood was boiling after he saw the current and still forming bruises over her body; mostly around her legs, ankles, chest...and his Neyla's flawless face, along with multiple dried scars. He intended to make the Contessa and every one of her guards for laying a hand on her!

"How did you escape?" The tigress asked, but immediately knew the answer as she witnessed a sneaky smile appear on his face and she smiled in return.

"It was all thanks to Bentley and Murray." Sly stated, which confirmed and answered her suspicion on how he escaped.

"I'm guessing that Bentley has a plan for you chaps to bust me out too, handsome?" Neyla asked, while flirting with her raccoon boyfriend.

"You guessed right beautiful. Bentley's found a weakness in the solitary confinement cell. If you can get into a huge fight, the guards will throw you in there." He stated while explaining the plan and flirting with his tigress lover at the same time.

"Are you positive?" She asked, while already knowing this plan was both her and Sly's one and only shot at being completely reunited.

"Trust me, babe. I'm speaking from personal experience." Sly answered jokingly and it earned a soft chuckle and small smile from his tigress.

"Can you still fight?" He asked, showing concern if she was capable of getting into a large enough scrap to get moved into the solitary confinement section.

"I'm not that injured...and I am looking for a little payback against the Contessa's thugs for all those beatings they gave me." Neyla stated, while glaring angrily at the single Vulture guard operating the main control room.

 _'That's my girl.'_ Sly mentally stated, while smiling both softly and proudly on how strong-willed and spirited his tigress lover was.

"But Sly..." The tigress added, with a look of sadness and it could also be detected in her tone.

"What is it?" He asked, showing he was concerned about what caused Neyla to be filled with sadness.

"You, Bentley and Murray need to work fast...because today is going to be my last day here in the 'prison'. Tomorrow afternoon...I'm going to be relocated." Neyla answered, while revealing that today was going to be her last day before being moved somewhere else!

"Where are they moving you to?" Sly asked, completely surprised after hearing the Contessa was planning on moving her to another secure location tomorrow afternoon!

"Her own personal estate, by air on her personal blimp...that's where she's hidden the second half of the Clockwerk Heart." She answered while revealing to her raccoon lover on where and how she was going to be relocated...including where the corrupt spider had hidden Rajan's half of the Heart after India!

"Alright, I'll pass that information along to the guys." The raccoon stated...although there was a sound of discouragement in his voice and matching expression of his face.

Neyla had somehow sensed the deep feeling of discouragement, along with anger and disappointment building up in her raccoon lover. She knew that Sly had blamed himself for failing to keep the promise he made to her before they attempted to steal Rajan's half of the Heart: how he would never let anyone ever harm her...and he failed to keep it. But she didn't blame her raccoon and never would. There was only one person to blame for what happened back in India and for all the pain/suffering they went through...Carmelita!

"Sly, I need you to listen to me..." She started off softly and it was enough to get his attention.

"I don't blame you for not being able to keep your promise, my love. And I never will. What happened back at the Spice Temple was not your fault." The tigress added, showing her raccoon boyfriend that she didn't blame him for her getting hurt back in India or here in the 'prison'.

"I know that Neyla...I just..." The raccoon stated, trying to let his tigress lover's word sink in...but he still felt guilty for not being able to keep his promise.

"Sly...we both know this was going to happen eventually...and I don't blame you Ringtail. There's only one person we should blame and hate for this happening." Neyla continued, showing and reminding her lover that there was one person they should blame for all the pain they went through the past four days.

"There sure is." Sly nodded, agreeing with his girlfriend that there was only one person they should blame; a certain corrupt fox inspector!

"The others and I will break you out Neyla. I'll come back for you, that's a promise." He added, with a new firm and strong determination of rescuing his tigress.

"I'll be waiting for you, my love." She answered back, before pressing the tips of her index and pointer fingers to her lips and sliding them between the small openings of the vent.

Sly had copied the same gesture; putting the gloved covered tips of his index and pointer fingers to his lips and sliding them between the opening. They had pressed their fingers together, and they both closed their eyes as they savored every second of their intimate moment. The raccoon knew this was the closest thing he and his tigress would get to an actual kiss...and they wanted to savor every second as they could.

"I love you Sly." Neyla whispered softly, before she and her boyfriend pulled their fingers back from the between the vent.

"I love you too Neyla. We'll come for you, I promise." The raccoon answered back, softly while feeling downhearted that the reunion with his Neyla was too quick and he crawled backwards to the drain pipe.

 _'Right...Better get down to it.'_ The tigress mentally stated as she sighed, while taking in deep breathes to soak up the surge of pain she felt to the right side of her waist .

Knowing she would have to avoid the wolves pounces and overhead slams with their maces...Neyla would have to make good use of the laser security system in the center of the workout room, along with the spikes on the walls and security lights around the corners outside her cell. She also had to use whatever strength she had left for this...because she had discarded every meal covered in illegal spice and the guards had beaten her for all the spice they lost.

"I'll have to make every move count." She muttered softly to herself, but was determined to be rescued and reunited with her raccoon.

Neyla had stepped out of her cell and spotted the three Wolves, lazily napping or pacing back and forth in the center of the room. She had taken out her whip and began twirling her wrist while whistling to gain their attention.

"Oh, boys?" She asked while lassoing the clueless canine closest to her around the waist!

"Who want's to play?" The tigress teasingly asked, after sending the Wolf spinning like a top and crashed through a single weapons rack carrying rusted Medieval hand held weaponry!

The first wolf had collapsed hard dizzy from all the spinning and its two friends snarled angrily at the weakened tigress. They could tell that she was still weakened, by her fatigue and figured she'd be easy prey...but they would learn they were sadly mistaken. Neyla had managed to avoid their attacks with her athletic and acrobatic jumps, but she still visibly winced from the pain she felt from every blow she had avoided. She had defeated five inmates; two with whip after delivering three power strikes and the last three, lassoing them around their waists/wrists and sending them spinning into the spikes.

 _'Five down...45 inmates to go.'_ The tigress mentally said to herself, while also knowing that she would have to defeat at least 50 of the other prisoners in order to get thrown into solitary.

Neyla had her work cut out for her, as other prisoners locked up in the upper levels of her cell block had broken out of their cells and joined in the fight! She had lassoed her whip around the waist of another inmate and sent him colliding into another Wolf inmate, making it seven wins. The fighting between Neyla and the inmates had gone on for what appeared to be 5-6 minutes non stop! The tigress had panted softly, as all the fighting and jumping around to evade her opponent's attacks was wearing her out greatly. She had taken out eighteen guards, adding the total of knocked out prisoners and wins up to 25...which meant she was half way down! She just hoped she had the energy to take down the remaining 25 inmates.

The tigress had used what ever furniture or exercise equipment was in the room to her advantage; lassoing some weights and smashing it into the skulls of a few Wolves, giving them a major headache. Neyla had continued fighting bravely against the Wolves who had been itching for a fight after being locked up in their own cells for what might've been weeks, even months! She was taking in deep breathes and nodding off the tiredness that was this close to overcoming her.

 _'No, I have to stay awake! I cannot fall asleep...not while I'm this close!'_ Neyla mentally screamed at herself, as she had defeated another fifteen more inmates; giving her a sum total of 40 wins!

Not willing to give up, as she had only ten more inmates to defeat was all the motivation she needed to keep fighting. She had lassoed a Wolf around the waist and sent him spinning towards the spikes and witnessed him being impaled by the deadly sharp metal blades. Neyla had witnessed another inmate attempting to pounce on her...but she was ready as she lassoed her whip around his neck and slammed him down hard on the press bench. The guard was moaning/growling in pain as being slammed down on the metal bar was extremely painful. She had made use of the laser system in the center of the room; stomping her right foot hard on the button which activated the lasers and burnt four of the unlucky wolves whom charged right into it.

 _'46 down...just four more to go. I can do this!'_ Neyla mentally stated and yelled at herself, as she nearly collapsed from exhaustion...but sluggishly got back up, as all the fighting was wearing her out.

Knowing that Sly and the others needed her to pull through on her end and that being moved into solitary was her best chance of being rescued by her friends and reunited with her raccoon lover, gave Neyla the strength to finish the job. After making swift work of the last four inmates; lassoing one and sending him crashing into his fellow cellmate, knocking them both out! Lassoing a dumbbell with her whip and smashing it into the skull of the 3rd inmate; knocking him down hard as he collapsed onto the floor while listening to the birdies. With the final inmate...Neyla had waited for the wolf to pounce so she could make her move. Once it was over her, the tigress had swiftly ducked and leaned backwards, while tucking in her stomach and kicking the wolf right in the gut. The unlucky canine had flipped over and...collided back first against the spikes; impaling the inmate upon contact.

"That's fifty wins. Thanks for the...exercise boys." Neyla panted softly, while struggling to stand on her own two wobbly legs.

Fortunately for her, the single Vulture sentry stationed in the guard control room above the room had heard and witnessed everything...and was he unhappy. Neyla had felt she was being watched and glanced up steel walkways to see the Vulture glaring down angrily at the worn out the tigress.

"Care to join the pile of knocked out mutts birdbrain?" She asked sarcastically, while panting hard and struggling to stay conscious.

The vulture, clearly seeing she was no threat to him and was about to pass out from exhaustion had done the one thing she was counting on...activating a switch in the control room that brought a single locked cage down upon her!

"Suckers..." The tigress muttered softly, before collapsing onto the floor exhausted and leaning back against the cold steel bars, as two Wolf guards had leaped down from the upper levels and kept watch over her before they were given the order to escort her to solitary.

~Back with Sly~

After he had passed on the message to Neyla to get thrown into solitary confinement so he, Murray and Bentley could break her out...he couldn't help but feel angry and saddened after learning the Contessa was planning on moving his tigress to her own personal estate. Also seeing the bruises his girlfriend had on her body and beautiful face, also sent his blood boiling!

Knowing that Bentley needed to know about the Contessa's plan, the raccoon had sprinted back to the safe house...while skillfully avoiding being spotted by the Vulture guards, by climbing up the street lamps and using the spider cobwebs to his advantage to reach the roof of the tall houses/buildings. Once he reached the safe house, Sly had entered and was relieved to see that Murray and Bentley hadn't left yet for their assignment at the bridge.

"You guys, we need to talk." Sly stated, as he pulled up his seat around the briefing table.

"Did you see find Neyla and pass on the plan?" Bentley asked, as he could by the troubled look on his friend's face...that seeing Neyla in the state she had been the last couple of days must've been extremely hard for Sly.

"I found her alright...and I passed on the plan; she understood it perfectly clear. But there's a problem...and it's bad." His raccoon friend stated, saying he had found Neyla easily through the prison vents...and still remembered his tigress lover's warning perfectly about the Contessa's plan.

"What's the problem?" The turtle asked, as he and Murray knew whatever Neyla told Sly must've been bad news to have him look so distraught.

"Neyla told me that the Contessa is planning on having her moved to her personal estate tomorrow afternoon." Sly stated, which shocked both the turtle and hippo!

"That deranged spider going to move Neyla to her personal estate?! Not on my watch!" Murray stated shocked after hearing the Contessa was planning on having the tigress to her personal estate, but was determined to make sure it didn't happen!

"Sly...did Neyla say how she was going to be transported from the prison?" Bentley asked, as he knew he could cook up a plan on thwarting the Contessa's method of escaping with Neyla!

"She said the Contessa was going to have her transported on her personal blimp...Neyla also told me its where that crooked spider placed the Clockwerk Heart after capturing us in India." The raccoon informed his friends on how his Neyla was being transported...along with where the Contessa had stashed Rajan's half of the Heart for safe keeping.

"Sly...is something else the matter?" Murray asked, as he and Bentley could tell something else was troubling their friend and leader.

"I...I couldn't keep the promise I made her." Sly answered softly, which he his friends could still hear.

"What promise?" Bentley asked, as he and Murray needed to coax as much as they could without angering/upsetting the raccoon.

"After you guys had left the safe house after the presentation on how to steal Rajan's half of the Heart...Neyla told me that she had a feeling that something horrible would happen. I promised her that I would never let Arpeggio or anyone else hurt her...and I failed to keep it." The raccoon answered while explaining what had happened after they had left the safe house to get Operation: Wet Tiger started...and revealing he had made a promise to his tigress, that he would protect her all costs, which he failed to keep.

"She had horrible bruises all over her body, s-she's been beaten badly guys." He added, telling Murray and Bentley that Neyla had been beaten after he had found her through the vents.

Both the turtle and hippo frowned sadly for both Sly and Neyla...especially after learning what had caused their friend to consumed with distraught. They could not even imagine how much despair, anger and pain Sly must've felt being locked up, separated from the tigress after their capture in India. They knew Sly had felt guilty for not being able to keep his promise to protect Neyla...and it was up to them to lift his spirits.

"We're going to bust her out buddy. Count on it." Murray stated, while walking up his friend and placing a reassuring hand around his shoulder.

"Murray's right Sly, we will rescue Neyla ...and it wasn't just you who failed to protect her. We all did. She's one of us now...and we're not abandoning her." Bentley added, placing a soft reassuring gloved hand over the raccoon's free dominant hand, showing he and the hippo were with him all the way to rescue Neyla.

"Thanks you guys, you're the best." Sly stated with a small, warm grin at his loyal teammates and friends which they returned.

Without wasting another second, Sly, Murray and Bentley exited the safe house and went their separate ways to reach their designated RV points. The raccoon had climbed the street lamp posts and scaled the roof tops to avoid being spotted by the Vultures patrolling the streets...yet had to battle the Wolves and Bats also on the roofs. Fortunately, he wouldn't have to waste valuable time fighting the idiot guards; after activating his Insanity Strike gadget and swatting the Bat guard that foolishly attempted to head him off.

The Bat had groaned as being struck across the face by the purple glowing cane and slowly came to. Sly had climbed up a towering rod on the roof a neighboring building, as the Wolf had eventually caught up and started tossing pebbles upwards at the climbing raccoon...and was soon met by an unsuspecting surprise. The Bat had landed a right hook, knocking the unsuspecting canine out! Sly couldn't help but smirk, as the brainless mutt had then became driven insane and fought back against its crazed fellow guard.

He had stealthily sneaked around the prison grounds, avoiding the prison security search lights shining above and around the walls, along with the Vultures patrolling the grounds. The raccoon had climbed up a lamp post near a building on the right side of the grounds and had to deal with two Bats patrolling the roof. Sly had skillfully dodged the Bat's punches and aerial dives, while dealing swift strong blows with his cane. After dealing two 'uppercuts' with his cane, striking the Bats underneath their jaws he finished them off with his charged up spinning cane strike! The two Bats groaned, laying on the roof in dizziness and pain from the raccoon relentless attack.

Sly had climbed up the antenna and swung across the hooks dangling towards the circular wooden walkway of a tower in the center of the prison. After landing softly and silently on the wooden walkway, he approached the RV point, pulled out his Binocucom and contacted Bentley.

"Okay Sly, that's it! There is the Contessa's giant attack robot!" The turtle stated, after he and the raccoon were looking at 'robot'...which was a typical water tower behind the fence to a separated yard.

"Look Bentley, with all due respect...it looks an awful lot like a water tower." His friend replied back, showing he wasn't convince that the water tower was an actual 'robot'.

"Don't be fooled! That's what she wants you to think! If we try to rescue Neyla while that thing is operational, why..." Bentley replied back, trying to warn the raccoon of a horrible scenario of what would happen if they tried rescuing Neyla with the attack robot still functional, but was cut off by his friend.

"What? We'll have plenty of fresh drinking water?" Sly asked jokingly, showing he wasn't buying or seeing the water tower as a 'threat'.

"I'm serious here Sly!" The turtle snapped, showing he was annoyed by how childish his friend was being and not taking his field job seriously!

"Of course...I do owe you one." The raccoon sighed, showing he was willing to humor his friend's concern for the 'water tower'.

"The lightning rods around the prison are designed to draw lightning strikes away from the water tower...err, I meant, giant attack robot." Bentley stated, while explaining the purpose of the five lightning rods scattered around town...and correcting himself after referring the attack robot to an actual water tower.

"Uh-huh, yeah?" Sly asked, in a monotone voice...while thinking that him running around the town would be a waste of time and energy as he glanced towards a lightning rod being struck by a bolt.

"By turning the valves on the rods, you should be able to redirect the electrical current away from its ground wire...rendering it useless. Simply follow the lightning strikes to find all five rods." The turtle continued, further explaining to Sly on how he was supposed to disable the Contessa's alleged 'giant attack robot'.

"Okay, just to be clear; you want me to break the ground circuit on all these lightning rods so that a bolt will strike 'and destroy' the giant attack robot posing as a water tower?" The raccoon asked, as he needed to clarify the plan with Bentley so he understood perfectly.

"That's an accurate summation of the plan." His friend nodded, confirming the general idea of the plan to cripple the giant attack robot.

 _~With Bentley and Murray~_

The turtle and hippo had sprinted across the town back towards the bridge, but instead of crossing the bridge itself, Murray had followed Bentley across a small bridge that led to the underpass of the large structure. After making swift work of the single Vulture patrolling the underpass; Bentley taking aim with his crossbow and firing a single dart that put the moronic guard to sleep...and Murray landing a swift and powerful punch to its sleeping face, the Vulture was down for the count. Once the coast was clear, they reached the RV point and got right down to business.

"Murray, these giant pipes underneath the bridge feed power to the prison's security systems. I'll need to cut the connection in order to free Neyla." The turtle stated, after he and his hippo friend glanced up at the pipes that ran underneath the bridge and explained how they supplied power to the prison security system.

"I'm guessing you'd like some protection while you plant your bombs?" Murray asked, while softly scratching and massaging the back of his head.

"You guessed it right big guy. The real challenge will be on the bridge...there is literally no cover, which makes us completely exposed." Bentley stated, explaining to his friend that while they were on the bridge there'd be way to hide from patrolling guards.

"No need to worry Bentley. I'll handle the guards, you just focus setting those charges." The hippo stated, while pounding his fists together, showing he'd be looking forward to taking the Vultures, Bats and Wolves head on with nothing but his fists.

Without wasting a second, Bentley had gone straight to work, planting a bomb on the left abutment. While the turtle had secured the explosive tightly, Murray had glanced around, searching for any guards approaching. To his luck, another unsuspecting Vulture was slowly approaching the bridge he and his friend had crossed. He had glanced back towards Bentley and saw that he had finished setting the first charge. The hippo had searched for something he could use against the guard and to his luck; a small wooden crate was near the cobweb that he and the turtle could use to jump and land on top of the bridge.

Murray had walked over to the small wooden crate, picked it up and lifted it over his head. Once the Vulture had crossed over to their side of the bridge, onto the underpass...it was lights for the poor unsuspecting guard. Before it could spot Bentley with its search light, the hippo had tossed the small crate and it exploded into multiple wooden fragments after making contact with the guard's head. The Vulture had gave off a simple squawk of surprise before stumbling on its own two feet and collapsed onto the hard concrete. He had walked up to knocked out guard, picked him and slammed the poor Vulture down hard! While Murray had finished off the guard, Bentley had finished setting up the second charge on the right abutment.

"I'm all done here. Let's head on up top." The turtle stated, claiming he was finished planting the charges on the underpass.

Without wasting a second, both Bentley and Murray had jumped up on the spider web and were surprised by how high they leaped before landing softly on the bridge. After they were on the bridge, the turtle had sprinted across the left side to the 1st bomb. As Bentley was setting the explosive, Murray had waited patiently while glancing around for any guards to fight. Fortunately for him, he wouldn't have to wait long; a Vulture was crossing from the right end, followed by a second. Knowing it would be dicey trying to take on the two Vultures head on, the hippo decided to use his most favorite move; the Fists of Flame! He had simply clapped his hands together and presto, became engulfed by fire!

Murray had charged in towards the first Vulture, whom squawked angrily after the hippo had foolishly ran straight into its torch light! The guard had attempted to fire a bolt from its crossbow, but was missed after Murray sidestepped to the right. Before the Vulture could fire another bolt, it was met by a powerful burning punch to the chest! The poor unlucky guard could only squawk in pain as it's entire feathery body became engulfed in flames. The second Vulture, whom heard its fellow guard squawk in agony sprinted towards the bridge to investigate and fired its crossbow after spotting the hippo. After sidestepping another bolt, Murray had landed a normal powerful punch to the Vulture's beak, which caused it to stumble backwards and he finished it with a strong uppercut, knocking the bird out.

After Bentley had finished setting the first charge, he had sprinted across as fast as he could and started planting the second charge on the right side of the bridge. Murray had spotted three Wolves crossing the bridge and charged in, ready to take them on. All three Wolves had growled/snarled in a threatening manner...but it had little effect on the hippo, as he simply glared angrily back at the canine guards. He had easily knocked out the first two Wolves with a single powerful punch to their faces, which sent them into a dreamy state; gazing at the stars. After the third Wolf attempted to pounce on him, Murray had simply caught the brainless canine in his strong hands and tossed him off the bridge!

Once Bentley had finished with the 2nd charge, he had sprinted back to the left end of the bridge and started planting a third bomb. For the next wave of guards, it was two Vultures and a single Bat. Taking on the three guards at once was more challenging than the three Wolves, as fighting two Vultures was more difficult than fighting a single one on his own. Murray had taken a couple of blows; either a powerful swipe across the face from the Vulture's wing or punch from a Bat's fist...and he bounced right back. After he eliminated the third wave of guards; he defeated a fourth wave of two Wolves and a single Vulture, a fifth wave of two Bats and two Wolves and a sixth final wave of two Vultures.

After Murray had defeated the last Vulture with a powerful right hook and left uppercut, Bentley had planted the last needed explosive to cripple the power to the prison security prison!

"The last charge is set Murray! Let's get out of here!" The turtle shouted and they both sprinted as fast as they could, as the bombs detonated as they got off the bridge!

"And that takes care of the power to the security system!" Bentley stated after he and his friend shared a high-five, congratulating each other for a nice job before they sprinted back to the safe house.

 _~Back with Sly~_

As the raccoon had ran all over town to locate and disable the lightning rods, he made time to pick pocket the guards of any valuables Bentley could sell off ThiefNet on his laptop...and he made off with a huge haul; 15 Gold Medals, 12 Silver Medals, 22 Gold Pens and 18 Silver Pens. He had also found all the necessary clues he'd need to break into the Contessa's personal vault. After Sly had located and disabled all five rods, he made his way back to the prison...and saw something that he couldn't believe with his own eyes; the 'water tower' was a giant attack robot!

 _'I, uh, guess I owe Bentley an apology for doubting him.'_ Sly mentally said to himself, after he saw the 'water tower' move and its 'eyes' open...but short-circuited as a lightning bolt had struck and rendered it completely useless!

After recovering from the shock of seeing what the 'water tower' truly was, the raccoon had silently landed softly in the prison grounds and prowled undetected, while avoid the spot lights. Once Sly had climbed up a lamp post near the entrance to Cell Block, he ninja spire jumped on top of the pointy end of the roof and leaped again, this time landing near the RV point. He had pulled out his Binocucom and contacted Bentley for his mission objective.

"Sly, I'm going to need your help in acquiring a sample of the Contessa's encryption algorithm." His computer tech and friend said, leaving him completely confused by what he was saying.

"I'd love to pal...but I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about." The raccoon replied back, showing he had no clue to what the turtle just said.

"Alright, I'll explain it to you one piece at a time." Bentley stated, while sighing as he knew that Sly and Murray had no idea what he meant in highly educational words.

"Do you see that security station? The guard nearby is responsible for its upkeep." He stated slowly starting with the importance of the security station directly near the entrance to Cell Block D.

"I'm with you so far." Sly answered, showing he understood the importance to the locked up security computer.

"First, I need you to pickpocket his key to the terminal and use it to set off the alarm once you have access to the computer." Bentley stated, explaining that he needed his friend to steal the guard's key to the terminal in order to set off the the alarm.

"Wait, hold up...you want me to set off the alarm?" The raccoon asked puzzled by his friend's strange request!

"Yeah, set it off and then clear out as the guard is sure to come running. Once he sees that it's just a false alarm, he'll input the code to deactivate it." The turtle stated, while explaining to Sly that after he set off the alarm, the guard would turn it off with the security code to the terminal.

"So you want me to take a photograph of the code?" Sly asked as he slowly understood what it was that Bentley needed him to photograph!

"You'll need to take the picture at a perfect position in order to get a clean shot of the code once it appears of the screen." The turtle nodded, showing that the security code was what he needed.

"Should I hit all the security stations around the town?" The raccoon asked, while already knowing that the answer would be 'yes'.

"Precisely and once I've got a large enough sample of the Contessa's codes, I should be able to put together a hacking software that'll be useful in order to save Neyla." Bentley stated, revealing the reason why he needed Sly to hit all the security terminals.

"Alright Bent, I'll get you those photos." Sly stated, with a strong look of determination in wanting to save and be reunited with his Neyla before he and Bentley broke contact.

The raccoon had leaped off the roof and landed softly on the soil in the courtyard. He quietly sneaked up behind the Vulture and snaked his cane into the guard's back pocket, easily lifting the key off him. Sly had silently crept away before breaking into a fast sprint, approached the locked up security terminal and activated the alarm. As soon as the Vulture heard the alarm, he came running to check the terminal just like Bentley predicted. The raccoon had climbed back up the lamp post and roof of Cell Block D, which was the best vantage point to get a clear view of the terminal screen. Once the idiot guard had inputted the security code, Sly had took a photo it: 459.

After taking the picture, the raccoon had searched the town for the remaining three security terminals. The second terminal was located by the train tracks not too far from the safe house. Sly had used his newly purchased Alarm Clock gadget; tossing it at a safe distance to lure the guard far enough from the terminal. Once the guard was distracted from the alarm clock, the raccoon had sneaked up behind the Vulture and lifted the key. After Sly had set off the alarm and gotten into the perfect position to take the photo once the Vulture inputted the code: 707.

The third terminal was on the side of a building, near the bridge and staircase leading up to the building where both Bentley and Murray had deployed the turtle's RC chopper. After lifting the key off the Vulture and setting off the alarm, Sly had gotten to a perfect position to take the photo of the code: 417. The fourth and final terminal was located in the back of the Contessa's house. After tossing an alarm clock to distract the guard, he lifted pick-pocketed the last key off the Vulture and set off the alarm on the last terminal. Once Sly had gotten into a perfect position, he took a photo of the final code: 314.

After the raccoon had finished his current job, he noticed a crawl space in the back of the revolted arachnid's house and decided to see if she had anything worth ripping off the corrupt warden/'psychiatrist'...which would tick her off to no end. Once he entered the back of the house, Sly was surprised to see it was practically a dead end! The only items inside the back of the house were a view Medical items; a suit of knight armor and the spider's personal safe. Once he approached the vault, he contacted Bentley before kneeling down.

"You'd need an IQ of at least 140 to figure out the code to this vault. That Contessa is smarter than I anticipated." His turtle friend stated, as he had gone over the clues Sly had collected to get into the safe.

"I believe that the code is...2-4-9." He added, giving his friend the combination.

After Sly had tried the combination that Bentley recommended, he smiled as his friend called it right. He turned the valve to the safe and opened it, revealing another gadget that would prove useful out in the field; the Long Toss gadget. He had snatched the gadget out from the safe and replaced it with his family clan calling card. Once Sly crawled back outside of the Contessa's house, he waited for the tank to pass by and exited the crawl space. After the raccoon had sneaked past the security light, he approached and jumped over the stagecoach placed the front entrance of the despised spider's residence.

After he sprinted along the walkway, Sly had spotted his final RV point, which was located on a high ledge underneath cliff along outside the prison wall. He knew crossing the cable from the edge of the roof to the cliff would be easy...but timing to pass the security light without getting shot? That would be the real challenge. As soon as the spot light passed, Sly made his move; he ninja spire jumped and ran across the cable as fast as he could. Luckily for him, he was able to avoid being spotted by the security light. He leaped from the higher ledge and landed safely onto the lower ledge, pulled out his Binocucom and contacted Bentley.

"In order to free Neyla, I'll need you to steal two tank keys and the tank patrol schedule off of the Contessa." The turtle stated, as he and Sly spotted the corrupt spider strolling across the bridge and stopping in front of her house.

"...No problem. I'm an old hand at hand at pick-pocketing." The raccoon reluctantly replied, while glaring with complete contempt towards the Contessa.

"It won't be exactly easy, Sly. The Contessa is no fool. She had learned about your escape and as a precaution, she doesn't go anywhere without bodyguards. You'll need to deal with them first, if you want to get anywhere near her." Bentley stated, as he could sense the deep ire towards the spider in the raccoon's eyes as he explained that she heard about his escape and had guards to protect to her while she made her daily rounds.

"I should probably use noise to lure those birdbrains away from the Contessa...and I have just the thing is mind." Sly stated as he agreed with his turtle friend that he'd need a distraction to lure the two Vultures away from the spider...and was real glad that he had his Alarm Clock gadget on him.

"Sly...I know you want to make that woman pay for what she did to you and Neyla, but you need to stay calm and focused." The turtle stated while trying to calm his friend down from doing something completely reckless and stupid.

"I know...I know, you're right Bentley. I'll get you those keys and patrol schedule. Thanks." The raccoon answered, slowly nodding as he knew that Bentley was right and thanked him for helping him keep his temper under control.

"Anytime buddy." His friend and tech support replied back before they broke contact.

Just as he and Bentley broke contact, Sly noticed the Contessa about to walk around her house...followed by the two Vultures right behind her. Knowing he could use the lamp posts to his advantage, along with his Smoke Bomb gadget...stealing the keys and patrol schedule wouldn't be that difficult. As the second Vulture was lagging behind, the raccoon had silently and softly landed from the high ledge near the front of the house. He had silently crept up behind the second Vulture, took out an alarm clock and tossed it nearby the lagging bodyguard. Fortunately, the first Vulture was too far ahead to hear it...which was bad news for the second bodyguard; as Sly had finished him off swiftly with his cane slam move!

The raccoon had circled the back of the house and spotted both the Contessa and her remaining bodyguard, nearing the train tunnel. As he waited for the spider to enter the tunnel first, Sly had crept behind the remaining bodyguard but not before putting as much distance between them as he tossed another alarm clock. The Vulture squawked confused as he heard the clock loudly ticking before it broke into many spare parts. Just as the idiot guard realized he had fallen way behind his boss and turn his back, Sly had knocked him out by slamming him down hard! The raccoon had broke into a fast run, in order to catch up with Contessa...and stealthily crept up behind her as she was walking on the tracks. He had snaked his cane in her back pocket and pulled out the first tank key!

"Who goes there?! W-Where are my guards?!" The Contessa demanded as she felt a presence behind and fled, after realizing her bodyguards were nowhere to be seen!

Sly had tracked the cowardly spider down to the courtyard inside the prison, which would make sneaking up on the guards slightly difficult. But he memorized the movement of the security search lights and knew when to move to avoid being spotted. After luring the Contessa's bodyguards away from her one by one with his Alarm Clock gadget as she patrolled the yards, the raccoon made his move; he sneaked up right behind her and lifted the second key!

"Huh? They're gone again!" The corrupt spider stated, after realizing she had been left unprotected a second time!

Sly had tracked the Contessa to the city streets near his gang's safe house...but fortunately for him, Bentley and Murray, the spider and her bodyguards weren't patrolling anywhere their hideout. The Contessa and her remaining three bodyguards were mostly patrolling the empty streets near the small dock. After making quick work of the three idiot guards after luring them away with the Alarm Clock gadget...he had crept up behind the spider and lifted the tank patrol schedule off her!

"Huh? Where are those lazy and incompetent bodyguards! They're all fired!" The Contessa demanded and snarled at the same time, after seeing that her bodyguards had 'disappeared' again before and fled!

"That's some great work Sly! Come on back to the safe house, we'll need to rest up for the big day tomorrow." Bentley stated over the radio and congratulated his friend for getting the items they needed to free Neyla!

"Copy that Bent. I'm on my way back." The raccoon replied back and couldn't help but smile at how much damage he and his friend's did to the Contessa's prison.

After Sly had returned to the safe house, he, Murray and Bentley couldn't help cheer and congratulate each other for a nice job out on the field. The turtle couldn't help but gloat when the raccoon admitted that he was right about the 'water tower' actually being a giant robot. They had decided to turn in for bed, as they needed to be in top form for their rescue operation tomorrow afternoon. Before Sly turned in for bed, he glanced outside the window towards the direction one last time.

 _'Hold on Neyla. We're coming for you.'_ The raccoon mentally said to himself, while hoping that his tigress lover was waiting for them in solitary confinement.

 **A/N: That is the end for the 2nd part to Jailbreak! I would like to deeply apologize to my reviewers for the insanely long wait. The last couple of weeks have been pretty insane; I've been distracted with my job at work, spending quality time with folks and friends and working on my other Fanfic stories. I would like to thank my viewers for their patience. The next chapter for Operation: Trojan Tank will be coming up soon! Please be sure to comment and review.**


	13. Operation: Trojan Tank

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any of its characters**

 **A/N: Hello everyone, here is the chapter for Operation: Trojan Tank! There will be a major surprise and twist to the story, when Sly and the gang attempt to free Neyla. Please sit back and enjoy.**

 **Reviews and comments will be appreciated**

 **Chapter 13: Operation: Trojan Tank**

After waking up, Sly and the gang ate a whole healthy breakfast while Bentley had put together a well put together slide show presentation on how they'd rescue Neyla from the Contessa's 'prison' and clutches.

"Thanks to our combined efforts, we're all set to save Neyla...and get some well deserved payback against a certain corrupt arachnid." Bentley stated while presenting three slides of their previous jobs: shadowing the Contessa to get at the keys and patrol schedule for the tank, demolishing the power conduits underneath the bridge and destroying the Contessa's giant attack robot.

The fourth slide, which was of Neyla standing behind a locked chamber in the solitary confinement section of her cell block, was what made Sly more determined to rescue and being reunited with his tigress.

"I call our rescue operation...The Trojan Tank." The turtle added while presenting another slide, this one of the exact same tank guarding the Contessa's residence parked outside the prison's main gate. Across the left top corner of the slide was the name of their plan, Operation: Trojan Tank.

"Step 1. We use the Contessa's keys in order to commandeer her patrol tank. Murray will jump in and drive while I keep out of sight by crawling underneath." Bentley began explaining the plan, while switching to two separate slides; one of an arrow drawn pointing to the back of the tank and the second slide, of the tanks treads raised high enough for him to crawl under.

"By some luck, the guards won't suspect anything out of the ordinary and will open the front gate for us." The turtle continued while switching over to another slide, one of the hijacked tank approaching the prison's main gate.

"Step 2. We casually roll in and blast the security door to Neyla's cell block!" He added while switching over to another slide; of the outside of Cell Block D and a scribbling drawn around the door, representing explosions!

"For the third and final step: Once inside, Sly will have to improvise his way up to the guard control center and open the doors to solitary confinement." Bentley concluded with two separate slides: one of the walkways near the exercise room and one of the control room, with the Vulture sentry operating it.

 _'I just really hope we're not too late...for Sly's sake.'_ The turtle secretly said to himself, hoping that nothing had happened to Neyla after she had been moved into solitary.

"I get to drive that tank? Sweet!" Murray asked as his eyes widened at the opportunity to get behind the controls of a tank at the of the presentation!

"But...wait, Bentley. If we're going to use the tank to sneak in...what about Sly?" The hippo asked, while already knowing how his raccoon friend and team leader would enter the prison grounds.

"There's no need to worry about me big guy. I'll stick to the shadows while using the rooftops to climb up the prison wall." The raccoon stated casually, while revealing to his friend on how he'd sneak into the prison, undetected.

"That's an excellent idea Sly, but be sure to stay close while Murray and I sneak in through the front gate." Bentley stated while advising Sly to remain nearby so they could enter Cell Block D together.

"Bentley...I just have one really important question: how in the world do I control a tank?" Murray asked as he had no experience operating a military vehicle like a tank!

"Okay Murray, tell you what? I'll give a quick lesson on how to work the controls of a tank." The turtle replied while offering to give his hippo friend a quick lesson on how to operate a tank.

"I'll head on out and start making my way to the top of the gate." Sly stated while informing his friends that he'd be waiting for them to hijack the thing.

"Alright Sly...but be very careful and make sure you don't get spotted." Bentley answered, while advising his raccoon to avoid being spotted by any of the Contessa's guards, as they couldn't risk getting caught while infiltrating the prison.

"Don't worry Bentley...I'll be careful." The raccoon replied, promising both his friends that he'd watch his back while climbing up the prison walls to the top of the gate.

Just as Sly had exited the safe house, he took off sprinting towards the small town...as the rooftops and antennas were the tallest ones near the prison wall. Once the raccoon had latched his cane onto one of hooks dangling nearby and swung across, he had landed safely on the west side wall. He had swiftly sprinted across the wall, knocking out the two Vulture's patrolling for any suspicious activity with his Stealth Slam move. The two nitwit birds had squawked and groaned in pain, as their bodies were sore from the impact of being slammed down of the hard cement floor of the walls.

 _'Hold on Neyla...We're on our way to get you out of that hellhole.'_ The raccoon mentally begged, hoping that his tigress lover was still alright...especially from that huge scrap she put herself through to get thrown into solitary.

 _~Back with Bentley and Murray~_

After Bentley had finished instructing Murray on how the controls to a tank worked, they had both exited the safe house and approached the RV point, which was right outside the safe house.

"Alright Sly, Murray and I are heading out for the tank." The turtle stated, as he and the hippo had a strong hunch that their friend was already waiting for them on top of the prison wall over the gate.

"Roger that. I'm already over the wall." The raccoon replied back, while confirming their hunch about his current position.

"Come on big guy. Let's steal a tank." Bentley stated while glancing back up to his hippo friend.

"Right behind little buddy." Murray stated as he and Bentley had sprinted across the train tracks and over to the small bridge that led to the sloped path that led up to the prison's main gate.

Once they approached the bridge, both the hippo and turtle skidded to a stop...as two Wolves were guarding the tank! But the two mutts would be quickly dealt with...as Murray and Bentley smiled at each other with a rather simple plan. Murray had watched his friend jump up a cobweb and landed safely on the roof of a small house and waited patiently, while crossing his muscular arms across his chest. After Bentley had taken out his crossbow, he took precise aim and fired single sleep dart...directly at the tank, between the two Wolves! The two canine guards had growled surprised as the dart evaporated after hitting the tank and crossed the bridge to investigate where the dart had came from...only to meet a shocking surprise. Before the two stupid Wolves could even react...they were both met with a single powerful left/right hook to their faces!

"Hey Bentley, trick question. Do you think guards like these ever get tired of being stupid?" Murray asked, as he smiled down at the two unconscious guards that were groaning/growling softly in pain from his fists.

"Well. if guards ever did have brains...we'd be out of a job." Bentley answered humorously and Murray couldn't help but laugh at his answer, along with the turtle himself.

After the hippo and turtle were finished laughing, they had approached the tank as the coast was all clear. Bentley had handed his friend the keys before walking behind the unoccupied military vehicle. Murray had inserted the the two keys and entered the tank through the front hatch.

"Oww! The seat has got to much further than this." The hippo cried out, as he _literally_ felt cramped from the inside of the tank!

"Okay, now that's much better." He muttered softly, as he made sure to memorize every control function of a tank, especially how to adjust the driver's seat.

"Alright, now to lift up the treads." Murray added, as he lifted up the tank off the ground so his turtle friend and teammate could crawl underneath.

"Alright Bentley, you should have more than enough space." The hippo stated, as he had finished making the necessary adjustments for them both.

Bentley had climbed down from his perch, walked across the bridge and avoided the security light before crawling underneath the tank as the engine was running.

"I won't be able to see you under there buddy, so try to keep up as we near the gate." Murray stated, while reminding his turtle friend that he'd need keep up while remaining hidden as they approached the prison.

"I'm all good Murray, let's go." The turtle replied back, while softly tapping the bottom of the vehicle; signaling the hippo to begin with the operation.

As Murray slowly and casually drove the tank up the hill, Bentley had crawled right underneath it...even while going up the sloped path. Sly had watched the hijacked tank approach the prison gate and nodded, as the guards would surely not suspect a thing.

 _'So far so good. Let's hope they fall for it.'_ The raccoon mentally said to himself as he witnessed the hippo near the gate...and smiled as the guards let the vehicle pass on through.

"Suckers!" Sly cheered to himself and shaking his head, at not believing how stupid the Contessa's lackeys truly were and smiling as Murray had entered the prison's main yard in front of Neyla's cell block.

"You might want to stand clear Bentley. I'm about to fire the turret." Murray stated, advising his friend and teammate to get out from underneath of the tank before he blasted the security door!

The turtle did as his hippo friend asked, crawled out from underneath the tank and stood clear as Murray had leveled and aimed the turret right at the door. Murray had fired three separate concentrated shots at the super reinforced security door. The first shot had barely damaged the door, the second shot severely weakened and dented it...and the third shot did the trick; as the door was blown to smithereens! Sly had jumped down from the prison wall and landed softly on his feet, right beside Bentley after their hippo friend had blown apart the security door.

"That's some excellent work Murray! Perfect aim!" The raccoon complimented his friend for his shooting skills with a tank turret for the first time!

"Thanks Sly, I was actually a little nervous about getting behind the wheel of that thing...but thanks to Bentley, I was able to get the hang of it." Murray stated, as he was pleased with himself for managing to operate a tank for the first time.

"This operation is far from finished. You guys head on inside and I'll be right behind you." Bentley replied while instructing his friends and teammates to head on inside Cell Block D.

"What are gonna do?" The hippo asked as he surprised to hear that Bentley wasn't going enter the building with him and Sly!

"I'm going to try to destroy the tank, so the Contessa will never be able to use it ever again." The turtle answered while revealing that he would attempt to destroy the tank.

With a single and firm nod from his friends, Sly and Murray had entered Cell Block D. Once they had stepped inside the building, they had a clear view of the guard control room with the Vulture sentry operating a computer console and spotted the elevator that could take them to the ground floor. But reaching the elevator without drawing attention would not be that easy; as two Bats and a single Wolf guarding it...but wouldn't be for long. Once both Sly and Murray had stepped forward, the three guards had growled threateningly and charged in to attack! But the raccoon and hippo had made swift work of the 'security staff': with two single punches to the Bats faces and three powerful blows from Sly's cane, the Wolf and Bats were laid sprawled out on the floor, groaning in pain. The Bats had spat out two fangs that had been loosened from the hippo's insanely powerful fists.

After the guards had been dealt with, Sly and Murray had entered the elevator and pressed the button to take them to the ground floor. Once they reached their designated floor, the elevator had gone back to the upper floor and knew it had to have been Bentley whom had called for it.

"Okay Bentley...what's the next step?" The raccoon asked, as he and Murray had witnessed their friend exit the elevator and joined them on the ground floor.

"You'll have to find a way to reach the guard security center Sly. Once inside, you'll have to access the main security console in order to open the gate." Bentley answered while advising his raccoon friend on what he'd have to do in order for them to gain access into solitary confinement.

"Bentley, why are there still security lights on inside this place?" Murray asked, as he was confused after seeing there were still security systems online!

"The Contessa must've had these security lights run on a back up generator...as a contingency in case anyone had attempted to cut the power on the bridge." The turtle stated, while explaining to the hippo that the corrupt spider had back up generators for the security system.

"Alright guys, hang tight. I'll be right back." Sly calmly said to his friends as he thoroughly thought up a sophisticated approach to reach the control center.

"Okay Sly, but be careful while you climb up there and be sure to avoid those security lights." Bentley replied back, while wishing his friend good luck and warning him to be careful while avoiding the search lights.

After giving his friends a reassuring nod that he'd be alright while climbing his way up to the control center...Sly had turned and began his trek. Once he had skillfully avoided being spot by the security lights from years of experience, the raccoon had ran up the metal walkways...but had to make a short stop to deal with Wolves disguised as statues behind several cells. He had made swift work of the idiotic canine guards; after timing the angle of his swing just right...he had sent the moronic mutts plummeting hard down onto the floor of the exercise room!

Sly had mentally winced, as he had both witnessed and heard the useless guards 'thud' after hitting the floor and continued with his assignment. He had climbed/ran along the metal walkways while latching his cane onto rings, swinging across floor spikes gaps and climbing up pipes while navigating the higher floors of the cell block. After spotting a second lone Vulture standing guard on the 2nd level, the raccoon had made quick work of the unsuspecting bird...he silently crept up behind the Vulture, lifted him off the ground with a swift 'uppercut' from his cane and slammed him down hard onto the floor! The Vulture had groaned and squawked in pain from the painful slam as Sly had continued with his climb.

Once had had swung across a wide gap, the raccoon had latched his cane onto a pipe, climbed up and spire jumped across a searchlight. He had than leaped and landed on the roof of a long prison cell...which was guarded by an unsuspected type of guard: three aggressive spider! He had easily evaded two of the three arachnids...and was pounced upon the third! After recovering from the surprising blow, Sly had used his charged up cane spin move and defeated the three spiders. Once the spiders were out of the way, the raccoon had ninja spire jumped onto a second searchlight and jumped onto the roof of the guard control center.

He had climbed down the pipe running down the side of the threshold and quietly entered the control room. Thankfully the Vulture manning the computers hadn't noticed him step inside...and that made it more easy for Sly to take out the brainless guard. After tapping the bottom of his cane and activating his Voltage Attack gadget, he sneaked up behind the Vulture and with a swift blow...the clueless bird had gave one single loud squawk before collapsing flat face against the computer board! But thankfully, no alarms had went off and Sly had approached the main security console in the back of the room.

"Alright Bentley, I'm running your security bypass software into the main console. Do you and Murray see anything happening with the gate?" Sly asked after he inputted the turtle's hacking software into the main computer and wondering if did them any good.

"Success! We've got access to solitary confinement!" Bentley cried out in glee, as his security bypass software had worked like he predicted and ran straight into solitary with Murray right beside him!

"I'm on my way back down! I'll meet you guys there!" The raccoon stated as he was happy himself, especially as he was about to be reunited with his Neyla and leapt down from the control center back to the ground floor near the gate!

However...once they had passed through the gate, it had immediately closed right behind them and to the deep surprise/shock to Sly...the solitary confinement cell was empty!

"I don't understand...where is she?" The raccoon asked as he was surprised after seeing the cell empty and signs of a struggle, as several computer consoles and screens had been wrecked and totaled beyond repair!

"Looking for someone Mr. Cooper?" A familiar and hated female voice called out, which belonged to none other than the Contessa herself!

"Your little girlfriend, perhaps?" The corrupt spider asked teasingly and coldly, while gesturing to another Vulture carrying an unconscious Neyla over his right wing!

"Contessa, let Neyla go!" Sly demanded while glaring at the corrupt 'psychiatrist' with complete contempt!

"Not a chance...especially since Arpeggio and I have a fitting punishment and experiment for this traitor." The Contessa stated darkly, indicating that both she and Arpeggio had something twisted and inhumane for their friend and Sly's tigress lover.

"Seeing as how you and your pathetic little gang saved me and my men the trouble of throwing you fools in here...how about they make sure you gentlemen 'enjoy' your welcome?" The spider asked while signaling for a small army of Wolves and Bats disguised as statues to reveal themselves and to attack!

"I will return shortly...so we can begin our 'sessions' immediately." She added with a cold smile before the security doors had locked, making sure the Cooper Gang couldn't follow after they defeated her men.

"We don't have time for this!" Sly stated...but not before glaring hatefully at the Contessa as she was heading towards her blimp!

"Sly, we need to deal with these guards first and then we go after that 'woman'!" Bentley replied, as he got into a fighting stance with his crossbow armed and ready!

"Let's take these losers, guys!" Murray stated, as he was more than happy to hurt the Contessa's pathetic excuses for 'henchmen'!

"Alright...let's do this!" The raccoon stated, as wanted to knock the Bats and Wolves out in order to chase down the Contessa and save Neyla!

The fight didn't take that long...especially as Sly, Murray and Bentley had tagged team every Bat and Wolf that came at them! Bentley had swatted a Bat that came at across the face with his crossbow and Sly had finished it off with his charged up spin move! Murray had defeated three guards; one Wolf and one Bat all on his own. But the the third Wolf...he had uppercut the poor canine underneath the jaw, grabbed and tossed him over to Sly, how finished it with a power blow from his cane! Just as another Bat had attempted to strike the raccoon...a sleep dart from Bentley's crossbow had put it fast to sleep. Sly had swatted the sleeping Bat across the face, sending it bouncing across the room...and Murray finished the job with a powerful punch to the back of the Bat's head!

After the all the guards had been defeated, as they groaned/growled/whimpered in pain from the Cooper Gang's relentless assault, Sly and his friends had approached the two locked security doors.

"Murray, quick! Lift those crank bars so we can chase after that cold blooded bitch!" Sly ordered his hippo friend, as they needed to catch up to the Contessa before she escaped with his tigress!

"I'm on it buddy!" Murray stated as he did as the raccoon asked of him; lifting up the two crank bars on the left/right sides of the gates blocking their path.

The crank bars were slightly rusty and difficult to move, but not wanting the Contessa to hurt his friend's girlfriend and fellow teammate gave the hippo all the motivation to unblock the corridor.

"Let's go!" Murray cried out, as he had lifted both crank bars and they ran down the corridor they had witnessed the Contessa casually walked down with the Vulture carrying Neyla.

The corridor Sly and his friends had followed had led them to a door, which took them outside on top of the prison security walls. They had glanced around to spot the the Contessa and...saw her walking along the wall with the Vulture carrying Neyla right behind her.

"Come on you guys! We need to hurry!" Sly stated as he, Murray and Bentley sprinted along the walls in an attempt to catch up to the corrupt spider before she escaped with his tigress lover!

They had ran as fast as their legs could allow them...but they were too late. By the time they had caught up with the Contessa...her personal blimp had slowly descended right beside the prison wall she and the Vulture were waiting patiently before boarding. Sly, Bentley and Murray could only watch shocked and saddened as they witnessed the Contessa's blimp ascend and float away...with Neyla still as the corrupt 'psychiatrist's' prisoner and soon to be test subject!

"NEYLA!" Sly had cried out in sadness as he failed his tigress again, a second time and fell to his knees...with his friend's slowly kneeling beside him.

"We'll get her back, Sly. We know where they're headed." Bentley assured his friend and leader and reminding him they still had a chance to rescue Neyla.

"Don't give up buddy. We'll save her and get our payback against that demented spider." Murray added, while placing a comforting hand on the raccoon's left shoulder.

"You guys are right, we still have a chance." Sly replied back, glancing at his friends and smiling as he knew they were right and they smiled back.

"Bentley, do you know where the Contessa's personal estate is?" The raccoon asked as Neyla and the spider told them where they were heading.

"Indeed I do Sly." The turtle nodded as he had memorized the exact address and location of the corrupt spider's estate after reading the article regarding her wedding ceremony.

"Alright, let's get out of here." Sly stated before he and his friends had made their way back to the safe house, packed up all their equipment into the team van and drove off.

During the drive, there were only two things on Sly's and his team's minds; 1: rescuing Neyla and 2: payback on both the Contessa and Carmelita.

 **A/N: There it is everyone, the ending to the Jailbreak episode! I would like to apologize to my reviewers for the long wait, the past couple of weeks had been pretty hectic and I'm currently vacationing in Texas. The next chapter will be Interpol learns of the Contessa's corruption and when Carmelita gets a temporary partner. Please be sure to read and review. Until next time, have a nice day.**


	14. A Temporary New Partnership

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any of its characters, except for my OC character.**

 **A/N: Hello everyone, here is the chapter when my OC character makes his first appearance and is temporarily partnered up with Carmelita when Interpol discovers about the Contessa's corruption.**

 **Reviews and comments will be appreciated**

 **Chapter 14: A Temporary New Partnership**

It had been four day after capturing both Sly and Neyla, alongside Rajan back in India. Carmelita had informed Inspector Barkley that both the raccoon and tigress were currently being held under heavy security in the Contessa's prison along with temporary custody of the Clockwerk Heart. What she didn't tell him, was what she had to both Sly and Neyla before handing them over to their revered warden and psychiatrist.

Barkley had been sitting in his office, going over the field report that the vixen had typed up herself: how she and the Contessa had waited patiently before 'moving in' to 'apprehend' Sly and Neyla after they had defeated Rajan. Carmelita had written how both the raccoon and tigress had 'refused to surrender' and how she had to use 'necessary force' in order to 'arrest' them.

 _'The Contessa had promised Carmelita she would transfer both Cooper and Neyla over to her custody from her prison. It's been four days and we haven't heard a word from her!'_ The hot tempered badger mentally said to himself, knowing something was wrong as they hadn't heard from the Contessa for four straight days and she hadn't returned any of his phone calls.

"Alicia, please have Inspector Fox step into my office." Barkley calmly spoke into the intercom speaker on his desk, asking his personal assistant to have Carmelita step into his office.

"Right away Chief Barkley, I'll send her to your office right away." His assistant, Inspector Alicia Bellamy answered in a French accent.

"Oh, Chief. There's one last thing I thought you should know." Inspector Bellamy stated, before she and her boss ended their rather short conversation.

"What is it?" Barkley asked, while already know what she was about to tell him.

"Your 12 o'clock appointment had arrived from the airport in Juarez and is on his way up to our office floor." Inspector Bellamy answered, letting her boss know that the detective he had called in had arrived from the US/Mexican border.

"Splendid, have him step into my office shortly after Carmelita...the last thing we need is for her to get into a piss-pouring match with a new partner." The badger requested, while sounding rather pleased that his secret weapon had arrived from the drug ridden city of Juarez.

"Of course Chief, right away." His female assistant replied, showing she would have the fellow detective enter his office and they both turned their intercom speakers off.

That was when Barkley heard his personal computer give off two beeps, along with an envelop that was labeled: 'CONFIDENTIAL CONTENT' and the sender who emailed it to him simply went by 'ANONYMOUS', which piqued his interest and curiosity.

 _'I wonder what could be on this email?'_ The badger mentally asked, while unsure if he wanted to open it...as he knew from personal experience, that emails such as this contained information he would not like to know about.

Instead of deleting and sending it to the 'Garbage Bin', like he planned to...he reluctantly moved the mouse to the folder and doubled clicked it. Inside the mystery email, was a single message with a video link attached. The first message read: _You're the only I completely trust._ Barkley had moved the arrow onto the video link...and gasped at what the link withheld.

What was on the video link? Two separate video clips of none other than the Contessa. One of her personally 'interrogating' an inmate in her 'prison' and one of her speaking with the parrot in person! Saying the first video clip was pretty brutal...was the understatement of the decade, as it had been recorded seven months ago.

 _"Where did you hide all the fortune you had accumulated the past 6 years, Inmate #08523?"_ The Contessa asked in a cold voice, which sent a shiver up Barkley's spine.

 _"Go...go to hell you ugly spider! You're going to burn when the cops you answer to discover this!"_ Inmate #08523, a spotted hyena acidly spat in her face, while glaring with great ire and hate printed on his face!

Barkley quickly knew the identity of the inmate, Clive Thomas; an international jewel and art thief hailing from Johannesburg, South Africa. He had eight outstanding warrants in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and London for the thefts of high end diamonds/paintings and selling them on the black market.

 _"Oh, a very poor choice of words..."_ The corrupt 'warden' and 'psychiatrist' coldly replied with a dark smile...which was enough to make the hyena quiver in fear.

 _"No...No, no, no, no!"_ Clive screamed as the Contessa had him strapped to an electric chair and had pressed the button to activate the painful electric shocks!

She had smiled in delight while hearing Thomas screaming in sheer pain and agony as she cranked the voltage up from 1 to 5! Clive had screamed as the headpiece secured and wrapped his forward was sending highly powerful and harmful jolts of electricity through out his entire body! He could feel blood slowly building up and pouring down his eye lids as he convulsed and quivered in unimaginable agony! After 2 whole minutes of torture, the Contessa had finally deactivated the shock and saw that Clive was still alive.

 _"Feel like talking Mr. Thomas? Or should we keep going with our 'session'?"_ She asked with a cold and dark smile on her lips, while threatening to crank the voltage higher if he refused to tell her about his fortune!

 _"No...No, please stop! Stop. I...I'll tell you. I'll tell you where I've hidden the money I stashed away over the years."_ Clive answered weakly, while panting heavily and convulsing what appeared to be a mixture of saliva and blood from his mouth. He had also cried softly, as tears of blood were trickling down his face.

 _"I knew you'd see things my way."_ The Contessa answered while still smiling darkly and crossing her arms across her chest in a show of superiority.

Barkley had pushed away from his desk, while shaking his head at what he was witnessing! He had obviously no idea what kind of 'woman' he hired and the Contessa truly was until he received this email. Instead of clicking to the 2nd video clip, fearing it would be twice as deranged and brutal than than what she had done to Clive...he moved and clicked onto the 3rd clip, where she met with Arpeggio on his blimp. This tape had been recent, as it was dated two months ago.

 _"Contessa, my dear. How have your experiments been going at your personal estate and prison facility?"_ Arpeggio asked from inside his mechanical 'birdcage' as he and the spider were in the cockpit of the blimp.

 _"My experiments have been coming along splendidly. The chemical inside the spice plants do exactly like we predicted."_ The corrupt arachnid answered with a gentle, yet dark grin across her lips.

 _"The unstable substance from the spice makes your test subjects show high levels of aggressiveness towards others?"_ The parrot asked, while already being fully aware of the dangerous substance of the illegal spice plants whenever a subject had consumed too much food covered in it.

 _"Indeed, but that is not the truly fascinating part of my research Arpeggio."_ The Contessa replied, as what she was about to tell him would be crucial for his true and ultimate goal.

Bit unfortunately , Barkley would never have the opportunity to learn what she had meant by that...as the person whom had been recording them had deactivated the camcorder and the video became blank. At the end of of the second video clip, another message had popped up...and what it read had caused the hot-tempered badger's blood boiling. The second message read: _The Contessa is a traitor to Interpol and secret member of the Klaww Gang. She never had any intention of handing Constable Neyla over to Interpol and is taking her to her personal estate in Prague._

"You asked for me Barkley?" Carmelita asked while casually walking inside his office and closing the door behind her.

"I..did Carmelita. I was...wondering, have you by any heard from the Contessa?" Her boss answered while a little distracted from watching two of three video clips of their corrupt 'psychiatrist' and 'prison warden'.

"No...No, I haven't. But I'm sure there might be a reasonable explanation for the slight delay." The vixen answered, while trying to keep a straight face and not draw any suspicion onto her character.

"Someone had sent me this email...which held these two video clips and this message!" Barkley answered, while trying to keep his composure and not lose his temper...but failed as he turned the computer screen so Inspector Fox could see.

"Isn't that...Clive Thomas, the art and jewel thief from South Africa? I had no idea that she was capable of doing unspeakable and unethical things!" Carmelita stated 'shocked'...but was not really surprised, as she already knew about the Contessa's true nature as she had handed her Sly and Neyla on a silver platter.

"Our own highly respected and recommended prison warden and psychiatrist is a secret member of the Klaww Gang! Is there anyone on the force who isn't a disgrace or sell out?!" Barkley lashed out loud, not believing he never suspected a thing about the Contessa's true colors and realizing they had been duped by a high functioning sociopath and textbook sadist!

"Well, what would you like to do Chief?" The vixen asked, while taken back how pissed the badger was after learning how the Contessa had manipulated them into sending her criminals to torture them instead of actually helping them reform!

"What do you think Carmelita? You're going to Prague to arrest that manipulating bitch and recover Neyla...with your new partner's help." He answered plain and simple, while informing the fox inspector that she was to lead a rescue op to retrieve Neyla and more importantly...to arrest the second 'woman' who had betrayed them.

"Of course Chief, w-wait! W-What do you mean by 'new partner'?" Carmelita asked, taken completely off guard after hearing she would be receiving a new partner!

"Barkley is talking about me." A different male voice answered and Barkley smiled as the detective he had brought in had just stepped into his office.

Carmelita glanced back to meet the owner of the voice and whom would be her temporary partner: an American gray wolf. He wore a red plaid shirt with a black/olive green square pattern underneath a black undershirt, a coal grey leather vest over his plaid shirt, dark blue jeans and black hiking shoes. The one thing that caught Carmelita by surprise that the wolf had two issued shock pistols secured in holsters on the left/right sides of his belt. The department regulations issued only one shock pistol to each Interpol agent, but for some strange reason...he was carrying two.

"Detective Jack Howlett, how are you doing son?" Inspector Barkley asked, while speaking a more civilized tone after seeing his secret weapon in person and Carmelita was shocked after meeting her newly assigned partner.

"I'm doing alright Inspector Barkley, thank you. You would not believe how hard it was to catch an international plane from the US/Mexican border here to Paris." Det. Howlett answered while smiling softly after being acknowledged and glad to have made the trip, despite slight the delay.

"I can only imagine, but that's not really important. What is important is why I asked for you and Inspector Fox here." The badger stated, showing he wasn't really interested in hearing about how difficult the flight was and went straight to the chase.

"Yes, of course Chief. Down to business, what is the assignment?" The wolf detective stated, while not while interested in bitching about air travel as well and wanted to get straight to business.

"Excuse me, Inspector Barkley? Do you want to fill me in? How do you know this detective?" Carmelita asked in a demanding tone, which caught the badger by surprise and earned a suspicious look from both him and Howlett.

"This is Jack Howlett from the International Fugitive Recovery Unit and he's top best operative. In fact, he and Neyla tried out together when we recruited her." Barkley answered strictly tone, which told the vixen to back off...which she clearly did, while smiling nervously from her outburst.

"He is going to be your temporary partner while you're in Prague arresting the Contessa and retrieving Neyla." He further added, stating they'd be working together in order to bring down the corrupt spider and rescue the disgraced tigress...which surprised both the wold and vixen.

"Chief...I always work alone. You know that from my personal file." Jack stated reminding the badger that he always worked solo, he never worked with partners.

"I'm not working with him! Neyla was my partner and she betrayed us for Cooper and his gang!" Carmelita also countered, angrily disagreeing with the idea of working alongside a new partner!

"That's enough out of both you!" Barkley shouted, as he was not in the mood to be second guessed right at the moment...and that shut both the wolf and vixen up, immediately!

"The Contessa has made a mockery of Interpol by manipulating us into sending her prisoners for her to sadistically torture...which is completely unethical and morally reprehensible! She also has a former colleague, whom she's holding as prisoner and test subject!" The badger added, while angrily reminding Carmelita that arresting the Contessa for her unspeakable corruption and recovering Neyla were the primary goals...not what she personally wanted!

"I've called in some old favors and we've been granted a huge some of money to hire mercenaries to give us the advantage over the Contessa. They'll be expecting you both when you touch down. Now get outta here! And take him with you." Barkley ordered before informing both Carmelita and Jack that they they were given control of well paid and expertly trained mercenary forces...and kicking them both out of his office, showing he expected them to get over their differences and work together for this assignment!

"Let's go...'partner'." Carmelita reluctantly said, while glancing and walking away from the wolf...showing she clearly wasn't pleased being given a new partner; especially if her secret was ever found out.

"Right behind you...'partner'." Howlett replied back the same way, showing he didn't trust the vixen inspector...as he detected something was way off the moment he saw her.

The two new 'partners' had exited Interpol Headquarters, drove to the airport in two separate cabs and sat far from each other as they boarded the plane. Little did Det. Howlett know...nothing would prepare him for what was about to unfold in Prague. But due to his old friendship with the tigress, he would do whatever it took to rescue his former trainee partner.

 **A/N: There it is everyone, the ending to the 14th chapter. The 15th and upcoming chapter that will be the beginning of A Tangled Web will be posted either this upcoming or next weekend. Please be sure to read and review. Until next time bye, good bye.**


	15. A Tangled Web Pt 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any of its characters, except my for OC**

 **A/N: Hello everyone, here is the 1st half to A Tangled Web episode, with a few slight twists; when Sly and his team learn about Jack and the raccoon has his first face to face with him at the end of Ghost Capture.**

 **Reviews and comments will be appreciated**

 **Chapter 15: A Tangled Web Pt. 1**

 _'It was time for some well deserved payback.'_ Sly mentally stated, as he scanned the perimeter of the Contessa's estate grounds through his Binocucom from outside his team's established safe house.

After a single whole day of driving from the prison, Sly and his team had arrived at the location of the Contessa's personal estate. They had set up a safe house in a small town village that was connected to the estate by a stone bridge. After Murray and Bentley had moved and set up the slide show projector inside their hideout, their raccoon friend had stepped outside to get a better understanding of the area. Before he had stepped outside, Sly had purchased the Para-glider gadget off ThiefNet, which he knew would come in handy as he would be climbing up the high towers surrounding the castle grounds.

 _'The Contessa, managing to evade us and escape from her prison is now holed up in her personal estate with Neyla still her prisoner.'_ The raccoon continued while glaring at the still fresh memory of witnessing the corrupt spider escape with his tigress.

 _'Ever since her husband's 'unexpected death', she had turned the estate grounds and building itself into a fortified Gothic nightmare, which would make any ordinary person flee in terror. Terrible or not...that's where we're headed.'_ He stated while thoroughly studying the lay of the land; scanning the high towers that would give him the element of surprise, along with wires and cables he could use to sneak in the estate grounds undetected.

 _'Thanks to Bentley's eavesdropping back at the prison and information on the flash drive, we've learned that the Contessa, whose a secret member of the Klaww Gang is in possession of the Clockwerk Eyes and second half of the Heart,'_ Sly mentally stated, while remembering how the corrupt spider had also took 'custody' of Rajan's portion of the Clockwerk Heart after capturing him and Neyla.

 _'The Thievius Raccoonus makes numerous references of how the eye's have an unnatural ability of freezing opponents dead in their tracks by being transfixed in their gaze.'_ The raccoon continued as he had read many pages of his family book about the Eyes, how they had a terrifying power to leave their target in a paralyzing state and left them defenseless.

 _'It doesn't take a genius to imagine what a sociopath like the Contessa could do with such powerful and dangerous artifacts.'_ Sly couldn't help but flinch at the horrible thought of what the demented and crooked arachnid would do if she kept both the Eyes and Heart any longer.

 _'Thanks to Bentley's hacking expertise and discreetly sending Interpol all the evidence they'd need to learn the truth about the Contessa; they had sent Carmelita to apprehend her and been given control of a small army of well paid mercenaries.'_ The raccoon mentally added while remembering how he and Murray had watched Bentley put together enough evidence to send Interpol, so they would see what kind of monster their 'therapist' really was...especially after witnessing the horrifying video clip of the Contessa 'interrogating' Clive Thomas themselves.

 _'My gang and I have started a full scale war and we need to act now...before things turn from bad to worse.'_ Sly concluded, as he knew that he and his team needed to work fast...since they knew Carmelita's true intentions to arresting the Contessa: to protect her secret alliance to the Klaww Gang and silence Neyla.

After Sly had put his Binocucom away, he waited patiently for the two mercenary attack tanks patrolling the village streets to pass on by the safe house. Once the two tanks had separated to search in different directions, the raccoon had swiftly climbed up the street lamp next to a cafe that was directly across and near the hideout. He had landed on the roof and approached the RV point while taking out his Binocucom once again.

"Okay, here's the plan Sly. First, take some recon photos around the area..." The turtle began softly, as he and his friend were glancing directly at the Contessa's castle estate.

"...then make your to the "re-education" tower." Bentley concluded while being visibly intimidated by how spooky and eerie the tower looked like from a distance.

"Sounds...pleasant enough." Sly answered rather hesitantly, showing he couldn't think of anything better to say about the tower himself.

"Oh and stay clear of tanks, so you don't end up getting killed and blown away into little sticky pieces." The turtle added with a slight sense of humor, while reminding the raccoon to avoid being spotted by the Contessa's and Carmelita's mercenary tanks.

After ending his conversation with Bentley, Sly had immediately switched to the camera function and took three photographs of the main objects of interest in/near the small town: an old bank, a boat that was patrolling the river underneath the bridge and the Contessa's blimp that was drifting above and around the castle grounds.

"The Contessa must be planning to use this boat to ferry her guards across the river. We could probably use it to sneak in undetected onto the castle grounds." Bentley stated after seeing the lone boat circling between a wooden dock underneath the castle and walkway near the sewers.

"That's the same blimp Contessa used to escape from the prison! It might come in handy for both the heist and rescue op to save Neyla." The turtle exclaimed after seeing the blimp circling the castle grounds and knowing they could use it for when they launched their plan to rescue the tigress.

"It appears Carmelita has set up her headquarters in that old bank. It is a rather secure location...and it'd take some doing to lure her out into the open." Bentley stated and carefully concluded after seeing where the corrupt vixen had set up her HQ.

Sly had sprinted across the bridge while skillfully avoiding the search lights and past the front gate of the castle grounds. After Sly had avoided being spotted by the Wolves and Vultures patrolling the front entrance to the Contessa's castle, he had taken out his Binocucom and took a photo of one of the spider's tanks.

"The Contessa is clearly prepped and ready for war against Carmelita and Interpol...which is just our luck." Bentley stated, after muttering slightly discouraged after seeing a small army of three tanks prepared for battling the vixen's mercenaries forces.

"Alright Sly, see if you can make your way into the "re-education" tower. I'm positive that where we'll find the Clockwerk Eyes." The turtle added while telling his friend to head over towards the tower, since it was the most secure location to hide the Eyes.

After climbing and crossing a cable up to the castle's higher walkways, the raccoon had crossed several bridges while battling several Vultures patrolling the walkways. Sly had used a spider cobweb to reach a higher ledge of the castle and been spotted by a single Wolf and Bat guarding the bridge to the "re-education" tower. The battle didn't last that long; after charging up a spin attack...the Wolf had been knocked back against two explosive barrels that he'd been sleeping near, and exploded after the stupid canine had smashed his mace into the barrel behind him. Sly had landed a Knockout Spin into the Bat's face which immediately knocked him out and finished it by knocking the Bat into the air with a swift 'uppercut' and slamming him down hard!

Sly had immediately crossed the bridge to the front door of the tower, but immediately skidded to a stop after knowing the door was no doubtingly locked from the inside.

"The door is locked from the inside. Try making your way around to the tower's window." Bentley advised after also knowing the front door to the tower was locked.

Fortunately for Sly, there was a hook dangling to the right side of the tower. After jumping and swinging across, the raccoon had latched his cane and climbed up three separate pipes that led up to the tower's back window. After Sly had landed safely onto the balcony, he silently opened the window's wooden shutters and entered...but he would soon be horrified by what he saw after entering the "re-education" tower. What did the raccoon see? His tigress retrained by her wrists and ankles to an old torture rack...while being forced to meet the Clockwerk Eyes hypnotic gaze as the Contessa worked behind a computer console.

"Bentley...there's more than just the Clockwerk Eyes up here." Sly stated as he contacted his computer support and teammate, with a look of horror on his face after seeing his Neyla being hypnotized by the eyes of his family's ancient enemy.

"My friends are going to kill you when they come for me Contessa! Interpol also knows everything about you!" Neyla shouted with deep ire towards the corrupt and sadistic spider, with her eyes glowing an eerie bright green while fighting back against the Eyes' hypnotic powers!

"That's what I'm counting on my dear. I know Cooper and his pathetic friends are no doubtingly on their way here, especially since their little rescue attempt failed." The Contessa sneered with a smug smirk on her face, showing she would be prepared for the Cooper Gang...whilst not knowing that Sly was eavesdropping on the entire conversation.

"I have nothing to fear about those incompetent fools at Interpol. Those idiots knew I was suspected of murdering of my dear old husband...and they hired me anyway!" The coldblooded spider added, pointing out the obvious fact that Interpol knew she had 'allegedly' killed her own husband...and it didn't ring any flags on their part.

"You're nothing but a coward and disgrace! When Sly comes for me, we plan on savoring every moment of making you pay for everything we went through in that hellhole of a 'prison'." Neyla growled angrily, swearing to get back at the coldblooded arachnid for every horrible moment she and her raccoon lover went through while separated after being captured in India.

"Why did you even do it Neyla? Why would you betray us after everything Arpeggio did for you?" Contessa demanded while already knowing the answer to the tigress's reasons.

"'What he did for me?' He did nothing for me! He simply used me and my skills as a tool for his own personal gain! I should've arrested that pathetic parrot the first day I met him...and sold my soul to the devil when I accepted his offer." The tigress coldly spat, showing she had regretted not arrested Arpeggio the day they met like she should've...but simply took him up on his offer.

"Oh, how sweet. Not only did you fall in love with a pathetic criminal like Cooper...you also grew a conscience." The spider coldly and humorlessly answered, whilst showing disgust at what a failure Neyla turned out to be.

"Shut up! Sly and his team are not pathetic! You, Bison and Arpeggio are the pathetic ones! Sly gave me everything I could've asked for: a place where I actually belong and more importantly, love and acceptance. After I told him and his friends everything about my past, how I had been working for you and the Klaww Gang he still accepted me for who I am and I love him the same." Neyla angrily replied back at the Contessa insulting her raccoon lover and friends and stating that it was really her, Jean Bison and her former master whom were pathetic!

"Well I'm afraid that you wanting payback with your little boyfriend will never happen. Once I have integrated the Clockwerk Eyes into this device, your mind will be completely under both mine and Arpeggio's control...and it'll be rather amusing watching you turn on your new friends, especially Cooper." The Contessa replied with a dark grin across her lips, revealing how she intended to hypnotize the tigress back onto their side and against the Cooper Gang.

"I won't be brainwashed that easily and I will never turn against Sly!" Neyla cried out, showing she wouldn't be hypnotized so easily and that she would betray her raccoon or their team!

"You're correct: the procedure won't be easy...or painless. But I will reprogram your mind and you will reprove your loyalty to Arpeggio by stealing the Clockwerk parts Cooper and his friends stole from Dimitri and Rajan." The arachnid replied, confirming that the procedure wouldn't be easy or pleasant...but would worth it, as Neyla would soon be brainwashed back on their side and have her steal back the Tail Feathers, Wings and Cooper Gang's half of the Heart.

"Now why don't you lay down and relax? Go back to your 'happy place' and stay there...forever." The Contessa coldly stated, while telling the tigress to lay still on the rack...as she attempted to finish the procedure.

"Did you get all that Bentley?" Sly asked, while tightening the grip on his cane and imagining he was striking the Contessa repeatedly across her ugly face with it.

"I heard everything and I don't think they've noticed you. Take a few photos and get out of there." His turtle friend and tech support answered, confirming that he indeed hear everything Sly had heard and wanted him to take a few recon photos before heading back to the hideout.

"No! I need to save Neyla now! I'm not leaving her to be hypnotized by that cold hearted bitch!" The raccoon strongly objected, not wanting to leave his tigress to be brainwashed and turned against them.

"There's nothing you can do for her now Sly! Take the recon photos and come back to the safe house...I promise, we'll find a way to rescue her before its too late." Bentley countered, while begging his friend to stick to the plan and promising they'd cook up a plan to rescue Neyla.

"I...I...I'll take the photos and head on back." Sly reluctantly stated, conflicted about leaving his tigress lover strapped to that rack when he was already there.

He had took out his Binocucom and took pictures of the five main objects of interest: Neyla, the old terminal on his side of the chamber behind the steel gate and tempered glass, the Clockwerk Eyes, the control console connected to the Eyes and the three Vulture standing watch.

"Neyla is strapped down to an old Iron Tech 250, a rather simple and crude security system that's been banned outdated and illegal...even for super max prisons." Bentley stated after identifying what kind of security system the Contessa was using to strap the tigress down.

"The Clockwerk Eyes! They seem to be connected to that control board. Get a photo of the console, so I can decipher its make." The turtle cried out in both shock and sadness, after seeing his friend and fellow teammate being forced to gaze back into the ancient owl's eyes.

"Those aren't just any typical Vulture guards...they are the Contessa's elite Shadow Guard. 'Tough' is a rather weak way of describing those birdbrains." Bentley stated as he and Sly immediately recognized them from India.

"My god...that's...that's a mind shuffler. I didn't think they actually existed. It's a device that's half science and dark magic, making it indestructible to modern day weaponry." He stuttered in complete shock, as the console that was connected to the Eyes was a device that was a combination of technology and black magic.

"That old terminal should be linked to the systems inside this tower. We're going to have to find a way to get it online." The turtle stated as the deactivated computer was obviously hardwired into the systems of the 're-education' tower.

"Alright Sly, head on back to the safe house and we'll build a plan together." Bentley advised as they needed to put together another rescue plan in order to rescue Neyla, before it was far too late.

"Hold on Neyla, I'll be back for you. That's a promise." Sly stated with a sad look on his face as he had to leave his tigress lover strapped down to that rack while shedding a single tear before climbing back out the window.

Once the raccoon had climbed out back onto the balcony, Sly had jumped and deployed his paragliders, soaring silently through the air and landed softly behind the front gate. After avoiding the spotlights while crossing the bridge and sneaking past the mercenary tanks, he climbed over an abandoned car near the steps to the hideout and stepped inside the safe house. Once Sly handed Bentley the recon photos, he and Murray took their seats as their turtle friend began the slideshow presentation.

"The war between Carmelita and the Contessa has put the castle on high alert." Bentley started off, while displaying three separate slides: one of Carmelita and her new 'partner' in the background of their temporary HQ, one of the much hated spider and one of the castle's front courtyard with a Vulture and Wolf guard patrolling the front entrance to the castle.

"In order to both, get at the Clockwerk Eyes and rescue Neyla, we're going to have manipulate this conflict to advantage." The turtle continued while switching to two separate slides, both of the Eyes hypnotizing their friend and teammate...which saddened them deeply, especially as he and Murray noticed how quiet Sly was being and turned his head away after seeing the slide of his girlfriend strapped down to the Iron Tech 250.

"Murray, sneak into the castle and kidnap the head of security. I want to ask him a few questions." Bentley instructed while switching to four separate slides; one of an arrow drawn in yellow marker on the slide of the bridge and front gate and three same slides of an elderly bat getting around with a walking cane.

"Meanwhile, Sly and I are going to get a little paranormal." The turtle stated while switching to a slide of the cemetery located behind the castle.

"I'll slip into the crypts underneath the castle and put together a bad mojo bomb, which should be more than enough to destroy the mind shuffler." Bentley explained while showing three separate slides; one of the castle's underground crypts, one of an improvised explosive device: a rusty brown medium sized timer giving off a dark yellowish glow and one of the Contessa behind the computer console connected to both the Clockwerk Eyes and mind shuffler.

"Sly, you capture a few local ghosts and drop them into Carmelita's headquarters." The turtle further instructed while showing two slides: one of a different crypt located in the cemetery and on of the corrupt vixen's HQ, with a yellow arrow pointed downwards near the chimney.

"Hopefully the near death experience will inspire her to purchase more mercenary firepower." Bentley stated while switching to a slide of a single biplane bomber flying high above the Contessa's castle.

"We all have our assignments. Good luck." He concluded while showing one last slide of outside the castle grounds and ended the presentation.

"Wait, Bentley. Could you go back to the slide with Carmelita outside her HQ?" Sly asked, while requesting his friend to show the slide of the corrupt vixen he once had feelings for.

"What for Sly?" His turtle friend asked while Murray scratched the back of his head confused as well as Bentley brought up the said slide.

"Because of that. Whose that guy hanging back in the photo?" The raccoon answered while pointing out the wolf detective in the background of the slide, as they never saw him before.

"Say, that's a good question." Bentley stated as he and Murray didn't recognize him either, but the turtle instinctively knew how to find out: hacking into Interpol's personal files.

After getting behind the ThiefNet computer, the turtle immediately got to work hacking into the main computer at Interpol. Since the IT boys at Interpol were amateurs at best, it was rather easy for Bentley to get past their security systems and cover his tracks after getting the required Intel he and his friends needed. After three short minutes, he was able to locate the wolf detective's personal file and download its contents.

"I got it! I know the identity of the wolf in the photo with Carmelita!" Bentley cried out, as the data was being uploaded and displayed on his laptop's main screen!

"So who is it?" Murray asked, as he and Sly were wondering who the unknown detective with the vixen was.

"Gentlemen, that is Detective Jack Howlett from Interpol's elite Fugitive Recovery Unit. Whenever Interpol has trouble locating and bringing in high profile international criminals like us, they send this guy, because apparently...he never misses his mark. He has arrested 16 out of 20 wanted international criminals from art and jewelry thieves to weapons and drug smugglers." The turtle stated while going over only Howlett's service record and reputation as an Interpol agent...and swallowing nervously after learning how good he was, especially after reading how he had brought in 16 wanted international criminals.

"So he's that good?" Sly asked as he was rather intrigued by Howlett, after hearing that he was practically Interpol's top agent and learning by how many international criminals he had arrested in his career.

"Apparently so and that must be why Interpol must've partnered him up with...Carmelita." The turtle stated casually before pausing after a rather dreadful thought crossed his mind.

"B-But wait a minute...Interpol probably doesn't even know the truth about what really happened in India!" Murray stated as the same thought crossed his mind as well; since they were the only ones who knew the truth about Carmelita's true colors!

"Which means...Howlett has no idea he's working with a backstabbing traitor." Sly stated knowing that the vixen would try to kill Jack the first chance she got, especially if he already suspected something...and knew they'd have to risk warning him.

Without wasting a second, Sly and his friends had exited the safe house and headed out for for their own designated RV point. After skillfully avoiding the the tanks and circling around the back of Carmelita's HQ, the raccoon had waited patiently for the river boat to pass by the walkway near the sewers. Once the boat was in reach he had leaped onto it, hitching a ride across to the wooden dock underneath the castle courtyard. After jumping off the boat after nearing dock, Sly had sprinted towards the cemetery where he spire jumped and climbed up the stone spider leg like columns onto the roof of a mausoleum.

"Alright Sly, there's your new objective. Sneak inside and smash the coffin of the Evil Wolf Priestess." Bentley stated and instructed, after his friend contacted him and they both glanced at the crypt in the center of the cemetery.

"That's rather harsh. Does the old girl deserve that sort of treatment?" Sly asked, as if he failed to understand that the woman buried inside the crypt was an actual evil witch!

"Weren't you listening? She was an **EVIL** Wolf Priestess! Once you smash open the coffin, it'll free all the ghosts trapped inside with her." The turtle stated and continued, while snapping a little annoyed at how his friend missed the part of the Wolf Priestess being evil!

"Okay, I don't know where you're going with all this...but freeing trapped ghosts sounds vaguely heroic." The raccoon stated while not fully understanding the plan, but felt that freeing trapped ghosts sealed in a coffin was a vaguely heroic act.

Once he and Bentley broke contact, Sly had sneaked by undetected by the patrolling Wolf and Vultures guards and entered the crypt. After walking down the steps, he came across a hallway that was heavily protected by four axes swinging across in a parallel motion and a motioned sensor spiked floor. Normally getting past these obstacles would be considered impossible...but being born in a line of thieves and trained in the art of stealth made anything possible. After studying the axes swinging timing, Sly had skillfully and carefully jumped and latched his cane onto the nearest axe and onto the other, successfully crossing and reaching the opposite end of the hallway.

After he sprinted down the stairs leading further deeper into the crypt, he entered the main chamber at the end of steps. Sly had glanced around the chamber, noticing a bunch of coffins scattered around the room and statues...which were probably Wolves in disguise. The moment he approached the coffin, a Wolf guard hiding inside a coffin near the Wolf Priestess's coffin shattered through the wooden object and attempted to land an overhead slam with its mace. After Sly swiftly sidestepped to the right and the Wolf missed its mark...he charged up and landed a spin attack move. The wolf had growled after skidding backwards and crashing into a pile of coffins near a fire pit...and two more Wolves appeared from the coffins!

 _'I don't have time for these brainless mutts.'_ The raccoon mentally stated, showing he had no time playing with the Wolf guards and needed to get going with the plan!

Sly had tapped the bottom of his cane onto the floor and created a familiar dark purple aura, activating the Insanity Strike gadget. As the Wolves snarled threateningly and charged in to attack him, he struck the first guard across his face once again...and that was when the show really began. The Wolf had became crazed and started attacking his fellow guards, while the raccoon watched with an amused smirk on his face. As the Wolves proceeded to duke it out with each other, that bought Sly just enough time he needed to smash open the coffin: after four powerful strikes with his cane, the bolted down lid had cracked open...and unleashed a powerful ghostly blue glow! The Wolves and everything else around the chamber, had evaporated as soon as the coffin was smashed opened!

Laying inside the coffin was a mummified corpse and the blow glow quickly changed shape; taking on the form of nine skeletal canine like ghosts that circled and exited the chamber through the walls.

"Nice work Sly. Now head on outside and I'll fill you in on phase 2 of the plan." Bentley stated after his raccoon had released the ghosts trapped inside the coffin of the Wolf Priestess.

After Sly had made his way through past the axes and spikes, he exited outside and leaped onto the roof of the crypt. He had then took out his Binocucom and contacted his turtle friend for further instructions.

"I've modified the imager in your Binocucom to capture ghosts." Bentley stated, revealing he had made a last minute adjustment to the raccoon's Binocucom just for this mission assignment.

"Didn't I just set these guys free? Why would I want to capture them again?" Sly asked confused to why he'd have to capture the ghosts he had just released with his newly upgraded Binocucom.

"Not to worry, it's only a short term confinement. Gather all the ghosts and then set them free down the chimney of Carmelita's headquarters." The turtle explained, stating that the ghosts would only be captured for a short period so Sly could drop them down the chimney of the corrupt vixen's HQ!

"I understand now, she and Howlett will think it'll be a sneak attack from the Contessa!" The raccoon exclaimed, as he fully understood the plan: by capturing and freeing the ghosts down the chimney of Carmelita's HQ, the vixen would naturally assume it would be the Contessa's doing!

"Correct. If I did my math right and I always do my math right, Carmelita should respond by purchasing more mercenary fire power." Bentley stated, while confirming that was indeed the general idea and how the vixen would retaliate by purchasing more mercenary firepower against the corrupt arachnid.

"Anything bad for the Contessa is good for us...and we'll finally get some payback against Carmelita." Sly stated showing he was completely alright with framing the Contessa for putting a healthy fear of God into the vixen and more importantly, finally getting some revenge against Carmelita for all the pain he and his tigress went through after India.

After he and Bentley broke off contact, the raccoon went straight to work at locating and capturing the ghosts. Fortunately for him, six of the ghosts hadn't ventured too far and were floating aimlessly around the castle grounds. However...capturing them on film would prove rather difficult, as the ghosts had floated all over the place and passed through the buildings, bridges and towers to block Sly's line of view. After capturing the six ghosts around the castle grounds, he Ninja spire jumped and walked along a power cable connected to three separate nodes across the river to a small section of the village.

Once he reached and landed safely on a nearby rooftop, Sly had captured the seventh ghost. After crossing a bridge that was directly behind the cafe, the raccoon had captured the two remaining ghosts: one that was floating near the hideout/plaza and the ninth/final ghost floating around outside Carmelita's HQ. After he had captured the last two remaining ghosts, the raccoon had proceeded with the final step of his plan...climbing up the roof of the vixen's headquarters. Sly had climbed up the lamp pole on the right side of the old bank's front door up to the roof, approached the chimney and dropped the container housing the ghosts.

"AHHH!" Carmelita screamed as the ghosts had floated around inside her HQ and the vixen stormed out, with her temporary 'new partner' running behind her.

"So the Contessa wants war, huh? Will two can play this game." The vixen growled angrily, as she and Jack witnessed the ghosts moaning as they continued passing through the walls of their HQ.

"It's high time that old witch learns that combat is a contact sport. A few bombers should put that old hag in her place." She added, stating that she and Howlett would hire more mercenaries to pilot bombers for the upcoming assault on the castle itself!

"Don't you think hiring pilots this early might be a bit...premature?" Howlett asked while being extremely cautious of the vixen, as the murderous look on her face confirmed his suspicions about Carmelita.

"Let me make something clear right now Howlett: I'm the senior Inspector in charge of this operation, your just here as a courtesy to Barkley. I call the shots, not you! Are we clear?" Carmelita shouted and demanded, showing she was in no mood to be second guessed by her new 'partner'!

"Yeah...I hear you, 'boss lady'." The wolf detective spat acidly before walking away from her.

"Where do you think you're going?" The vixen demanded as he continued to walk away from her, while he brought his right hand up and raised only the middle finger.

"I'm going to scout around the castle grounds, see if there's a way to sneak in undetected...'partner'." Jack answered while giving the corrupt vixen the finger, which in turn infuriated Carmelita greatly!

Sly couldn't help but chuckle in amusement, as he witnessed Howlett flip Carmelita the bird. As the angered vixen had simply ignored the ghosts and reentered their HQ...Sly's smirk slowly faded as Jack had slowly turned around and glanced directly up at the roof. The raccoon had a look of surprise on his face...as Howlett somehow knew exactly where he was when he and Carmelita exited the old bank!

"I don't want to fight you Cooper. I just want to talk." The wolf detective called out, as he saw that Sly was about to make a run for it...and that was enough to earn his attention.

"So you already know my name?" The raccoon asked, while already knowing how Jack knew who he and his gang were...through many of Interpol's 'Most Wanted List' and news articles around the globe.

"Yes. Do you prefer a more secluded area for us to continue our conversation?" Howlett stated and asked, as he knew that them talking outside the HQ would no doubtingly gain Carmelita's attention and cause her to step outside again.

"Over there: in that small section of the village." Sly answered while gesturing to the small area of the village, where he captured the 7th ghost.

As the raccoon was about to break into a fast run, he witnessed Jack perform a huge jump; similar to Carmelita's as he landed on the roof of his and the vixen's HQ! The two of them had proceeded to run along the roof tops as the reached the cafe, crossed the bridge and entered the small part of the village.

 _~With_ _Bentley_ ~

After avoiding the security spotlights and crossing the bridge with Murray, the two of them went their separate ways to reach their own RV points. While he sprinted down the streets of the castle grounds, the turtle had unfortunately bumped into a few Wolf and Vulture guards...but was able to subdue them, by putting the dimwitted canines and birds to sleep with well placed Snooze Bombs, which released green sleeping gas that put the moronic guards fast asleep. Despite the height of the buildings surrounding the castle blocking his view, Bentley was able to find the RV point; another crypt located in the graveyard. Once inside he pulled out his Binocucom and contacted Murray.

"Ah ha! I knew she'd have a bad mojo collector to transport the overflow." Bentley stated, after seeing the item they needed in order to free Neyla and steal the Clockwerk Eyes!

"Huh?" Murray asked confused, showing he had no idea what his friend was talking about.

"It's a semi-magical device that's part dark magic and technology, like the Mind Shuffler; only it's designed to absorb bad mojo. I'll need it in order to collect the run off from these spouts." The turtle stated while explaining that the mad mojo bomb was a mix between dark magic and modern technology, just like the Mind Shuffler and how it absorbed bad mojo to power itself up.

"Wow...sounds easy." The hippo stated while nodding softly, showing he understood how both the bad mojo bomb and Mind Shuffler were both a cross between modern day technology and dark magic.

"It's not exactly that easy or simple big guy. Bad mojo is both a dangerously powerful and lethal force. If someone were to be attacked while carrying the thing...they'd be dead right away." Bentley corrected his hippo friend, revealing that dark magic was incredibly dangerous and could kill someone instantly if mishandled or misused in anyway.

"Oh...that's bad. Are you sure this is the only way to free Neyla, Bentley?" Murray asked very concerned for his turtle friend, especially after hearing how dangerous bad mojo truly was and what would happen if he were attacked while lugging that contraption around his back!

"Unfortunately...this plan is necessary in order to rescue Neyla big guy. Nothing I have or could cook up would be powerful enough to damage, let alone destroy the Mind Shuffler...except the bad mojo bomb. The crypts have plenty of defense mechanisms...and they could come in handy with taking out any guards while I collect the ectoplasm to fuel up the collector." The turtle answered, showing that powering up the mad mojo bomb was their only chance in order to rescue their friend and teammate, as nothing else would be strong enough to damage the Shuffler and release the Eyes.

"Aright...good luck little buddy." Murray stated, while wishing him good luck with his dangerous assignment and hoping he'd make it back to the safe house in one piece.

"Yeah..." Bentley answered, showing he wasn't too sure about wanting to go through with it...but had to, as they needed the bomb in order to rescue the tigress and steal the Eyes.

After he and Murray had broke contact, the turtle had approached the mad mojo collector and swiftly placed it over his shell. The moment Bentley had placed the collector onto his back, the spouts in the crypt started to release small clusters of ectoplasm...and Wolves started exiting through the gates on the opposite end of the chamber. But fortunately for him, there was a mechanism he could use to defeat the Wolves: the center of the chamber was actually a crusher that was connected to three switches. Once the a single of small group of Wolves had stepped into the middle of the room...Bentley had flipped the switch and the Wolves became flattened after the crusher shot upward towards the ceiling!

The turtle had continued using the crusher to flatten the Wolves for what felt like 6-7 minutes, as the spouts had ran dry of small clusters of ectoplasm and exploded when the final clump had poured out.

"Look's like this spout is out of bad mojo. No matter, I'm only one-fourth of the way to a full tank." Bentley stated as he witnessed the spouts destroy themselves after all the ectoplasm had absorbed into the bad mojo bomb and exited the crypt.

After scanning his surroundings through his Binocucom, he had located the second crypt, which was near one of the castle's higher walkways. Thankfully for Bentley, there was a wooden ramp nearby that he and Murray could use to access the castle's higher levels; as they didn't have Sly's and Neyla's athletic jumping or climbing abilities. While either sneaking by undetected by the Vultures and Wolves patrolling the walkways or putting them to sleep with his crossbow and sleeping darts, the turtle had entered the crypt.

Once inside, Bentley had immediately got behind the switches which operated the traps as Wolves had charged out from the gates on the opposite end of the room. To the turtle's surprise and delight...the crypts had different defense mechanisms and these ones he found rather useful: the middle switch activated blades that popped out of the two slots in maze like spike covered floor, the right switch activated a swinging axe and the left switch activated throwing knives! When the brainless mutts came charging in, they were met with a rather unpleasant and painful fate: as they were either impaled by the blades popping out from the slots, knocked out cold or impaled on the spike covered floor or stacked up against each to the left side wall with knives sticking out the right side of their heads.

After the spout had run out of ectoplasm and self-destructed, Bentley had headed off for the next crypt, which was the mausoleum where he contacted Sly to free the captured ghosts. Once he stepped inside and started collecting the bad mojo, the turtle had once again used the traps to keep the Wolves at bay: the center switch activated a built-in flamethrower, the center switch released a sleeping gas which was very similar to the chemicals he used for his sleep darts and the far left/right switches activated crushers on their side of the chamber. Unfortunately for Bentley, the switches for the crushers and sleeping gas had a long reset timer and had to use them wisely. But it wasn't a completely bad thing: once the Wolves were sleep from inhaling the gas..he had blown them sky high with some well placed bombs!

When the spout had ran out of bad mojo and destroyed itself, the turtle had set off for the fourth and final crypt...which was located directly at the docks underneath the well in the castle courtyard! Once inside, he had used the traps to keep the Wolves at bay one last time as he filled up the 4th and final tank to the bad mojo bomb. The left switch activated the flames on the left platform, the center switch dropped the wooden platform in the middle and the right switch switch activated the flames to the left platform. To say that Bentley was enjoying himself was an understatement...as he smiled after seeing shocked looks on the Wolves as they were roasted on fire or merely waved 'bye-bye' before plummeting and drowning into the water! But there was one problem: for every Wolf he either cooked alive or dropped into the water...another one simply took its place!

But unfortunately for the Wolves, there was a fourth switch...which activated an electrical current surrounding the water! Which meant...whenever they had leaped off the platforms, the electric shocks had fried them alive and turned them to ashes! After seven minutes had passed and final Wolf had remained, Bentley had defeated it himself with a swift smack across the face with his crossbow and sent it drowning into the water! That was when the spout had exploded after all the ectoplasm had been absorbed into the bad mojo bomb!

"Alright, the deed is done! With the mojo collector filled up at full capacity, I should be able to blow the Clockwerk Eyes off that Mind Shuffler! This is going to be GREAT!" Bentley exclaimed excitedly, as the bad mojo bomb was fully charged to destroy the Mind Shuffler and release the Clockwerk Eyes from the console being used to hypnotize Neyla!

After exiting the crypt, the turtle had waited patiently for the patrol boat to pass by as it was circling pass the village side of the river. Once the boat was near the dock, he had timed his movement and landed safely on top of the vessel and leaped off as it circled around the village again. Bentley had then returned to the safe house and waited patiently for Sly and Murray to return.

 _~Back with Sly~_

"Did you really want to come here to talk Howlett? Or to simply try to bring me and my friends in?" The raccoon asked, after he and the wolf detective were far enough to avoid being spotted by Carmelita or any of their tank mercenaries.

"Tell me something Cooper: if I was going to arrest you, don't you think I would've done that the second I spotted you on the roof of my HQ instead of having us come here to talk?" Jack countered, stating he could've simply fought Sly and arrested him after a long heated fight between the two of them instead of wanting to speak with the raccoon thief.

"Alright...you have my attention." Sly stated, showing he was willing to hear what Howlett had to say instead of just assuming the worst of him.

"I know that you and your gang aren't just here for the Clockwerk Eyes...you're really here to rescue Neyla." Jack answered, stating that he knew Sly's and his friend's true intentions: that they were planning to take down the Contessa and rescue the tigress, not just for the Clockwerk part.

"That's right. Do you have a problem with that?" The raccoon asked, while demanding if the wolf detective was against them trying to bring the sociopathic spider down and rescue his tigress lover.

"Not at all...and that's the point: I'd like to help when you and your team prepare to attack the castle." Howlett answered, showing he had no problem with letting Cooper and his team taking down the corrupt arachnid...and even offered his help in bringing in end to the Contessa's demented plans and rescuing Neyla!

"Y-You want to help...help us?" Sly stuttered, as he was caught completely off guard by Jack wishing to offer his assistance for when they planned to put their rescue mission into action!

"Do you and your gang really think I'm not aware that Inspector Fox can be trusted? I knew something was way off about that woman the moment Barkley partnered us up for this operation...and I also know she plans to kill me the first chance she gets." The wolf detective answered while explaining on how he suspected that Carmelita couldn't be trusted and planned to get rid of him, as she saw him as a threat to her true plans.

"And why should my team and I trust you?" The raccoon demanded, as he knew that Jack was telling the truth about being wary of Carmelita...but that wasn't enough to earn his, let alone Bentley's and Murray's trust.

"Look Cooper, I can tell you more than just care about Neyla. I care about her as well, because she's also my friend. She and I were new cadets trying out for Interpol after they recruited her. Most of the other cadets had teased me mercilessly, because of my last name...but Neyla was different, she stood up for me and we got to know each other better. We had eventually became field training partners before I was selected to join the Fugitive Recovery Unit." Jack stated, while revealing how he and Neyla knew each other: how they were new recruits to Interpol and became friends, along with training partners before he had been selected to join the F.R.U.

Sly had been silent as he listened to Jack explain how he and Neyla were friends and field training partners when they first joined Interpol at the same time together. He knew right away that the wolf detective was being honest about everything: how he valued his friendship with Neyla when they trained together to join Interpol, how he knew that Carmelita was dangerous and untrustworthy and more importantly...the raccoon knew right away that Howlett was indeed a good hearted, noble and selfless person. Maybe he could be trusted.

"I'll have to discuss it with my team. If they are comfortable with the idea, I'll come find you. Could we meet here at this same spot around tomorrow?" The raccoon stated, showing he'd have to discuss his offer to help them with Bentley and Murray first before the decision could be made.

"I understand and yes, we can meet here tomorrow." Jack stated, showing he understood that Cooper and his team needed to discuss about letting him help first and agreed to meet him at this exact spot across the bridge before they went their separate ways.

 _~With Murray~_

The moment he and Bentley went their separate ways, the hippo had fought his way towards his RV point; battling the Bats, Wolves and Vultures as he entered the graveyard where Bentley found the 2nd crypt. After running up the wooden ramp, the hippo spotted his RV point: on a small tower on the opposite side across the walkway. Once he crossed and jumped onto the tower, Murray pulled out his Binocucom and contacted Bentley.

"Hey Murray, can you see the General from there?" His turtle friend asked, as they both witnessed an elderly bat slowly walking up the wooden ramp with a small wooden cane.

"Nope, just an old man coming up the ramp." The hippo answered, while completely unaware that the 'old man' was in fact his target.

"Don't let his appearance fool you. That is General Clawfoot, and he's one of the toughest old soldiers you'll ever see...not to mention, the head of castle security." Bentley stated, while revealing that the old bat was actually one of the Contessa's greatest soldiers and head of security for the castle grounds!

"But what if he refuses to surrender himself? I don't want to hurt him." Murray asked while stating that he didn't want to hurt the General because of his old age and his insanely powerful muscles.

"Oh you don't have to worry about that, he's only afraid of two things: fire and water. Other than that, you couldn't hurt him even if you wanted to. He might also come in handy along the way...as a projectile against the Contessa's idiot guards." The turtle answered, explaining the only two things that the General was frightened of and how his hippo friend could use him to knock the spider's useless lackey's.

"Wow, that is handy." The hippo nodded and stated in agreement, as he could picture himself using the elderly bat against the Contessa's pathetic excuses for henchmen.

After he and Bentley had broke off contact, Murray had approached the elderly bat and with a swift uppercut, lifted him in the air and caught him over his head.

"Sorry old man, but you're coming with me." The hippo stated while apologizing for the 'inconvenience' and started sprinting across the walkways with his main objective!

"Wha, wha? Let me go!" General Clawfoot asked while mumbling in complete nonsense and flailing his short legs in the air!

 _'Bentley said this gold geezer is afraid of fire and water. So trying to use the river boat won't work.'_ Murray mentally said to himself, remembering hos his turtle friend said how the General was frightened water and couldn't risk trying to use the river boat...if he tried to jump aboard or tossing the old bat onto the boat and missed, he'd end up killing the old man.

Knowing his only option was the bridge, he continued running across the walkways with Clawfoot shouting out complete gibberish. While crossing the walkways to the castle courtyard, all the General's shouting had attracted the attention of near by Vultures and Wolves, whom heard the elderly bat's cries for help! Not wanting to risk valuable time, Murray had sprinted as fast as he could with the Wolves and Vultures chasing and shooting at him, which he barely evaded with his annoying cargo! But fortunately for the hippo, he didn't have to run that much further, as he came across a walkway that overlooked the courtyard.

After he jumped from the towering walkway and landed safely on the castle grounds, Murray had broke into a fast run with the General still in his grip and crossed the bridge back across to the village. Once he avoided being spotted by a mercenary tank patrolling around the safe house, the hippo had ran up the steps to the front porch of their hideout and slammed the old bat down hard! That at the exact moment, Bentley had stepped out with a feather in his right hand.

"Well, well...General Clawfoot, we've got a lot to talk about. You wouldn't by any chance know the security codes to the castle's gates, hmm?" Bentley stated in a mild tone, while sarcastically asking the elderly bat for his security codes to the castle's main gates and approached the knocked out General.

"Don't feel like talking, huh? How about a little of this?" The turtle asked while tickling the old bat with his feather in order to get the information he needed.

"Ha ha ha! Drac! Ho ho ho!" General laughed as he was being tickled non-stop by the turtle and attempted to stay strong, but failed miserably!

"Talk you scoundrel!" Bentley demanded while putting up the pressure by tickling him harder as he needed the codes in order for him and his friends to save Neyla and steal the Clockwerk Eyes!

The General couldn't take anymore of Bentley's relentless 'interrogation', while Murray had watched the entire thing with Sly, whom had also returned to the safe house after his unexpected conversation with Howlett. Clawfoot had provided the turtle everything he needed; where the Contessa housed her tanks, how to get in the more secure areas of the castle itself and where the Contessa stashed an experimental 'battery' to power up the old terminal in the 're-education' tower. After obtaining all the information they needed for their upcoming assignments for tomorrow, Murray had knocked the elderly bat out cold again and tied him up, while placing a long cut piece duct tape over his mouth...as the hippo was still annoyed by how loud and noisy he had been after he abducted him from the castle.

Sly and his team had decided to call it a day and turned in for bed. The raccoon knew he should tell his friends about his unexpected run in with Howlett and about his offer in helping them rescue Neyla, but after a long day of hard work out in the field decided to tell them tomorrow after the team briefing.

 _'Hold on a little longer Neyla. We're coming for you babe, I promise.'_ The raccoon mentally prayed, hoping for his tigress to stay strong and keep fighting the Contessa's hypnotic programming as the memory of seeing her strapped to that table was still fresh on mind and wanted nothing more than to rip the Contessa apart for what she was doing to her.

 **A/N: There it is everyone, the ending to the first half to A Tangled Web! I'm so sorry for the insanely long wait, I've been preoccupied with my job at work and spending quality time with my folks and friends. I've also been conflicted about which Fanfic story to work on: TRATT, Spyro: A New Beginning and my new Pokemon fanfic with Ash K. and Tory L. I promise the next chapter for the 2nd half to A Tangled Web will be posted soon by either this or next weekend. Until then, please be sure to comment and review.**


	16. A Tangled Web Pt 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any of its characters, except for my OC**

 **A/N: Hello everyone, here is the 2nd half to A Tangled Web, where Sly informs Murray and Bentley about Jack's offer in helping them rescuing Neyla and make preparations for their rescue mission.**

 **Reviews and comments will be appreciated**

 **Chapter 16: A Tangled Web Pt. 2**

After morning had arrived, Sly and the gang had ate breakfast at the briefing table while Bentley had put together another slide show presentation for their upcoming mission assignments.

"Guys...there's something that I need to tell you." Sly stated softly, knowing that Bentley and Murray needed to know about his conversation with Jack yesterday and his offer to help them.

"What is it Sly?" His turtle friend asked as he and Murray could tell by the tone of his voice, that their friend and leader had kept something from them.

"After I had set the ghosts from the crypt down the chimney of Carmelita's HQ...Detective Howlett had spotted me on the roof. He could've tried to bring me in...but instead, he asked if the two of us could go somewhere more private for a talk." The raccoon answered plainly, revealing that he had met the wolf detective face to face and how they went to a more private location so they could chat.

"You actually had a face to face conversation with Howlett?" Bentley asked, surprised to hear that his friend and leader had an actual private conversation with Carmelita's temporary 'partner'!

"What did you and the wolf detective talk about?" Murray asked as he was curious just like Bentley, as they were surprised that Jack simply wanted to speak with Sly instead of trying to arrest him when he had the perfect opportunity.

"He wants to offer his help when we plan our attack on the castle to rescue Neyla." Sly answered truthfully, which earned quite a shocking response and reaction from his friends!

"W-W-What? Howlett wants to help us...when we begin our assault on the castle to steal the Clockwerk Eyes and save Neyla?" Bentley asked, as he and Murray were completely caught by surprise by Jack's offer in helping them rescue their friend and teammate!

"No way. No way am I trusting this guy Sly. Just because he wants to offer his help doesn't mean he can be trusted. We made the mistake of trusting Inspector Fox and look what it cost us. " He stated, showing he wasn't willing to trust Howlett while using their history with Carmelita as a perfect example: how she started out as an honest cop who took and swore an oath to uphold the law...and how she betrayed it because of her anger and hatred towards them and Neyla.

"I agree with Bentley, Sly. I mean, how can we be sure that Howlett won't end up stabbing us in the back like Carmelita did?" Murray replied, siding with Bentley since he agreed with his turtle friend's point of view of not trusting of trusting cops, especially after all the pain the corrupt vixen had caused them.

"I know...and I agree with both of you guys. But...somehow, I can't quite explain it, but...I just have this feeling that tells me we should at least give Jack a chance to let him help us." Sly stated, showing he agreed with his friends teammates that Howlett couldn't be trusted...and yet, some strange instinctual feeling told him that they should at least give the wolf detective a chance to prove he could be trusted.

"And what feeling might that be?" Bentley asked, as he and Murray were curious by what sort of 'feeling' their friend had that was telling him they should even consider giving Howlett a chance before letting him assist them in rescuing Neyla.

"Well, I can't quite explain it...but it's similar to when Neyla had to prove her trustworthiness in order for you guys to accept her onto our team. You guys were wary of letting of her, especially after she told us about her past and being an agent of the Klaww Gang...but now..." The raccoon answered while using his tigress as a perfect example: how both the turtle and hippo were strongly against the idea of letting Neyla joining the team, but after she proved she could be trusted, they soon realized they were wrong about her.

"...She's one of us." The turtle and hippo stated softly, as they knew Sly's words were true: how they weren't thrilled with the idea of letting Neyla joining them, especially after learning she was an agent of the Klaww Gang...but after she proved herself by providing them with all the Intel they needed and helping them steal their half of the Heart, they realized she did belong with them.

"I'm supposed to meet with Jack later today...in the small section of the village with the side bridge." The raccoon added, revealing he was supposed to meet with Howlett later today which surprised his friends!

"How about you and Murray come with me, after you give us our job assignments Bentley?" Sly suggested, so they could meet Jack face to face and judge for themselves if he could be trusted or not.

"I think that's an excellent idea Sly." Bentley immediately answered, showing he was willing to meet the wolf detective for the first time face to face.

"I, uh, I guess we can give it a try." Murray answered a little hesitantly, showing he wasn't sure they could trust Howlett but was willing to trust Sly's judgment.

After agreeing that they would meet with Jack after getting their mission assignments, Bentley had started with the slide show presentation.

"Alright guys, let's get down to business. The first steps in escalating the war between Carmelita and the Contessa have gone excellently well." The turtle began, stating that their plans in manipulating the soon to be war between Inspector Fox and the Contessa had gone better than hoped while showing a slide of Carmelita running out of her headquarters after Sly had released the trapped ghosts and a slide of Murray kidnapping General Clawfoot.

"We're down to our final setups before we can spring our trap." He added, revealing that they needed to pull off a few more jobs before they began their rescue mission to rescue Neyla and obtain the Clockwerk Eyes while presenting a slide of the 're-education' tower.

"Sly, I need you to steal a voice modulator from the castle and install in underneath Carmelita's headquarters. If all goes as planned, it should allow us to give orders to her's and Howlett's mercenaries without any suspicion." Bentley started off, while showing off three separate slides: one of the device that his raccoon friend needed to steal, followed by a slide of the corrupt vixen's HQ and yellow ink arrow pointed downwards, representing underground and of the antenna on the roof of Inspector Fox's headquarters.

"Unfortunately, Carmelita's newly purchased bombers have made her army a little over enthusiastic and might strike before we're ready!" The turtle continued while stating that the bombers that Inspector Fox purchased have already been attacking the castle, by showing three separate slides: two of the mercenary bomber planes dropping bombs all over the castle ground and one of the mercenary tanks circling the corrupt vixen's HQ!

"Which leads us to Murray. I need you to hot wire one of the Contessa's tanks and go to town on the mercenaries! We just need to intimidate them a little in order to buy us more time." Bentley continued while displaying two separate slides: one of the corrupt arachnid's tanks and the second of one Inspector Fox's soon to be destroyed mercenary tanks!

"And finally, I'll venture back into the crypts to power up that old computer in the 're-education' tower. We're going to need it in order to save Neyla." The turtle concluded, while sowing three separate slides: one of a different crypt, one of the deactivated terminal back in the 're-education' tower and the final slide...of Neyla being strapped down and forced to gaze into the Clockwerk Eyes.

"Oh, and Sly? If you hadn't already, you'll need to purchase a paraglider for the operation." Bentley added at the last minute, but already knew that his raccoon friend had bought the said gadget before he headed out to take the recon photos around the village, castle grounds and inside the 're-education' tower.

After getting their mission objective's, Sly and Murray sprinted headed out to their designated RV points to carry out their assignments, while Bentley stayed behind to the voice modulator once his raccoon friend acquired it. The raccoon had waited patiently for a tank to pass, climbed up the lamp post near the cafe and ran across the bridge to the small section of the village. He had leaped over the roof of a car and climbed up the roof of a building, overlooking the side bridge and garage where the Contessa housed her tanks. After reaching his RV point, he had taken out his Binocucom and contacted Bentley.

"The Contessa plans on taking control of Carmelita's and Howlett's army by deceiving them with a prototype voice modulation device. To get the thing working, she'll have to jack it into the satellite connection beneath their headquarters." The turtle started off, explaining how the Contessa had a prototype device that would allow her to disguise her voice and impersonate either Inspector Fox or Jack and giving their mercenaries false orders.

"So, I'm guessing you'd like me to steal the device and hook it up on our side...giving us control of Carmelita's and Jack's mercenaries, Sounds great!" Sly stated, already knowing that his friend and tech support needed him to steal the voice modulator and entertaining the idea of them giving orders to the mercenaries while impersonating either Inspector Fox's and Howlett's mercenary tank and bomber plane forces!

"You'll have to steal a few keys here and there in order to get access to the more secure areas of the castle." Bentley stated while nodding to confirm that his raccoon friend guessed right and explaining how he'd need to steal several keys from Vulture guards in order to gain access to the more secure areas of the castle.

"If there's pickets to be picked, I'm your man." The raccoon stated casually, showing that he was up to the challenge and willing to do whatever it took to rescue his tigress.

"First, steal a wire tap and the voice modulator. Then head for the sewers beneath Carmelita's and Jack's headquarters." The turtle stated, while instructing his friend to steal a wire tap first, then the voice modulator and to head for the sewers after obtaining both devices.

"I'm on it." Sly stated, showing he understood what he needed to do before he and Bentley broke off contact.

The raccoon smiled as he glanced down upon the two Vulture guards that were lazily glancing around the small round street; one walking around while his friend kept his attention up the road leading to the bridge behind the cafe. He reached into his knapsack and pulled out an alarm clock, tossing it as the clock landed beside the lamppost near the left side corner of the side bridge. The two Vultures had squawked in surprise and glanced around in confusion, as the clock had vibrated into the river.

Sly had silently leaped off the roof and crept up behind the unsuspecting guards as they searched for the alarm clock he tossed. He had pick pocketed the Vulture on the right, snaking his cane into guard's back pocket and smirked as he obtained the first key. Noticing how the Vultures had lost interest in the alarm clock and were about to spot him, Sly had landed a swift blow from his cane, knocking both the idiot guards out cold and released a smock bomb as he climbed up the lamppost on the right of the bridge. As soon as the two Vultures had regained consciousness, they had remembered 'someone' striking them from behind and squawked angrily as they glanced around...but didn't anyone, as the wily raccoon chuckled silently at how inept the Vultures were on top of the lamppost.

After seeing no one was around, the Vultures shrugged their wings...thinking they probably just imagined being hit as they continued standing guard. Smiling as the two birdbrains were making it easy to lift their keys, Sly had tossed another alarm clock; this one landing directly next to an abandoned car to their left. The two guards squawked in surprise as they turned their attention to the alarm clock blaring before it dissembled itself. The raccoon had silently leaped off the lamppost and approached the distracted clueless Vultures, pick pocketed the second key and tapped the bottom of his cane, while activating his Insanity Strike gadget. Sly had smacked the unsuspecting Vulture on his right, which caused his fellow guard to cry out in surprise before he landed an uppercut with his cane and sent the Vulture tumbling backwards!

The raccoon had sprinted down the side bridge while the Vulture he smacked with his Insanity Strike gadget had attacked his fellow guard and smirked, as he witnessed the two idiot birds fighting each other. Sly had climbed up the lamppost to the right of the garage where the Contessa housed her tanks, ninja spire jumped on the top end and took out his Binocucom, scanning his surroundings for the new way point beacon and spotted it near the guard tower, on the opposite side of the 're-education' tower in the upper parts of the castle. After knowing where he was supposed to go, the raccoon had landed on top of the roof of the garage, knocked out a Wolf guard with his Knockout Dive technique and climbed up the cable to the ramparts; sneaking past the Vultures patrolling the walkways and avoiding the bombs that Carmelita's and Jack's mercenary bombers dropped all over the castle grounds!

Once Sly had used the spider cob to reach the high ledge, he swiftly dealt with a single Bat sleeping near the wooden barrels; sneaking up behind the sleeping guard, lifted him up into the air with an uppercut with his cane and slamming him down hard! The raccoon had then crossed the bridge behind him, which led directly to the guard tower. He proceeded to use the keys unlock and remove the two padlocks locking the door before stepping inside the tower, which was heavily guarded by five Wolves; two keeping a sharp lookout while three were dozing off, sound asleep. He also had a clear view of the wire tap, which was connected to a computer panel at the back end of the room...along with a second safe which was right near it!

 _'There's the wire tap...and the Contessa's second safe! I can use whatever is inside to deal with these useless mutts.'_ The raccoon mentally said to himself, smirking as he already planned out his approach of how to reach the wire tap and the corrupt arachnid's second safe undetected by the Wolves...as well as entertaining the idea of using whatever gadget the Contessa kept inside against the brainless canines.

Sly had waited patiently for the Wolf circling the huge table to turn his back and once his back turned, he had ninja spire jumped on the hilt of a huge sword and leaped onto the chandelier dangling in the center of the room. Thankfully none of the Wolves had spotted or noticed him and he tossed another alarm clock, which blared out as it vibrated near a fire pit at the far right corner of the room. The loud ringing had attracted the attention of all five guards and they sprinted over across the room to investigate as soon as the clock broke apart.

 _'Morons.'_ The raccoon mentally stated, smiling as the clueless canines had ran frantically across the small room, which made it incredibly easy to snatch the wire tap and break into their boss's second safe!

As the Wolves were still searching for the source of the ringing, Sly had leaped down from the chandelier and knelt down as he approached the safe up the stairs next to the device he needed to steal.

"Security around the Contessa's castle is tight, which means she must have something really good stored in here." Bentley stated, as he had encrypted all the clues that Sly had found while taking the recon photos and trapping the ghosts with his Binocucom in order to scare Carmelita.

"Punch in 9-6-9." His turtle friend stated, giving him the combination to the corrupt spider's second safe.

After Sly had inputted the combination that Bentley suggested, he opened the vault and smiled at what laid inside: the Rage Bomb gadget! He had snatched the gadget from the safe and replaced it with his family clan's calling card. He had then removed the wire tap from the computer panel.

"Ah yeah, that wire tap is perfect!" Bentley stated, as the wire tap his raccoon friend had just acquired was in perfect condition!

Knowing it was time to move on, Sly couldn't resist the idea of testing out the newest addition to his arsenal; the Rage Bomb. After walking down the stone steps, he tossed another alarm clock that landed underneath the chandelier...which lured the five brainless mutts all together again. The wily raccoon had tossed out his newest gadget; a small handheld bomb, designed exactly like Bentley's standard, trigger and snooze bombs with only a huge: this bomb had gave off a purple flash and exploded, before releasing a puff of purple smoke!

All Wolves had been knocked unconscious after the bomb exploded and as soon as they regained consciousness: their eyes had gave off a purplish glow! All five canine guards had then immediately started attacked each other: one Wolf pouncing on the other while the third Wolf had struck the fourth and the fifth planting ordinary and explosive spiders which attacked its fellow guards! Sly smiled in amusement, as he witnessed the five crazed canines fighting/tearing each other apart as he casually walked past them and walked right out the door.

"Sly, there are are two guards nearby with the keys you'll need to get at the voice modulator." Bentley stated, informing his friend that he needed to rob two other Vulture guards of their keys in order to make off with the voice modulator.

Fortunately for Sly, he wouldn't have to look hard for the first Vulture guard he needed picket-pocket...as he was pacing back and forth non-stop across the bridge leading to the 're-education' tower. Plus, the single Wolf and Bat guards that were on the ledge? They were sound asleep, which made it even easier for him to pick-pocket the Vulture and knock him out hard. As soon as the Vulture had walked down the bridge and turned around to stroll back towards the locked door...Sly had silently crept up behind unsuspecting bird and snaked his cane into his back pocket, lifting off the first key! He had then lifted the Vulture upward into the air with a swift uppercut and slammed him down hard onto the side bridge, leaving him gazing at the stars.

After the first guard had been dealt with, Sly had taken out his Binocucom, glanced around the castle grounds for the second guard and spotted an RV marker appearing behind the guard tower. The raccoon had latched his cane onto the hook to the right of the bridge and swung over to the ledge, where he sidled across and climbed up a pipe to a higher ledge above him and climbed up another pipe to reach the roof. Sly had spotted the second Vulture, pacing back and forth on a narrow ledge behind the castle. Knowing he'd have to time his jump at the right moment and work fast, as there was little to no room on that ledge..the raccoon had jumped from the roof and landed safely onto the ledge directly behind the unsuspecting guard! He had snaked his cane into the Vulture's back pocket and obtained the second key!

"Have a nice flight birdbrain." Sly stated jokingly, which startled the huge sized bird whom swiftly turned around...and was greeted by a powerful strike to his beak!

The Vulture squawked out in surprise as he stumbled backwards and...cawed out in horror as he fell off the ledge and landed with a hard 'thud' onto the castle streets!

"...See ya next fall." The raccoon added humorlessly with a nod, before leaping off the ledge himself and deploying his paraglider, allowing him to glide safely onto the ground and sprinted to the main courtyard while avoiding other guards and tanks patrolling the streets.

"Great work Sly. Now head to the front entrance to the castle, where you'll find the voice modulator hidden somewhere in the keep." Bentley stated while congratulating his raccoon friend for obtaining the 2nd set of keys to enter the castle itself.

After Sly had made his way to the courtyard, he unlocked the padlocks to the castle's main entrance and stepped inside the keep. Once inside, he spotted a single Vulture guarding a staircase...with the floor being littered with spikes which assembled a maze. But the raccoon wasn't worried the slightest bit...as he spotted the perfect distraction to lure the Vulture away from his post: a torch bowl behind a set of floor spikes that was close to the idiot guard. With a swift smack from his cane, which sent pieces of hot coal flying onto the floor and the Vulture gave a surprised cry, as he rushed over to investigate...while taking the long way, by navigating around the spikes!

As soon as the clueless guard had took the bait, Sly had effortlessly jumped over the spikes and sprinted up the stairway to the second floor...which was the same as the first floor, but with the maze of floor spikes designed differently. But...the clever and crafty raccoon smirked as he had struck the torch on his end of the room with his cane; causing the base of the torch to crack and coal to fall out, which caught the Vulture's attention and sent him running to investigate. While the clueless guard had sprinted around the spikes...Sly had crept underneath two weapons racks that were beside the left wall and silently crawled over to the opposite side of the room. The raccoon had then approached and claimed the the voice modulator, that was connected to a computer console in the back wall, just like the wire tap.

"Nice work! You've got the voice modulator! Head on outside and lets put that baby to work!" His turtle friend cried excitedly, as Sly had just stolen and obtained the device they needed to take control of Inspector Fox's and Howlett's mercenaries.

After making swift work of the guards by sneaking up behind and slamming them down flat on their backs with his stealth slam, the raccoon headed back outside into the courtyard, where he received further instructions from Bentley.

"The Contessa's guards have locked down the entrance to the sewer. You'll have to track down the guards in charge and relief them of their keys." His friend and tech support stated, informing the raccoon that he needed to obtain a 3rd set of keys in order to gain entry to the sewers underneath Carmelita's and Jack's HQ.

Without wasting a second, Sly had sprinted towards the graveyard, where he climbed up the spider leg like arches of the mausoleum, jumped onto a cob web to launch himself into the air and sailed over, landing onto a walkway. After landing safely, the raccoon had took out his Binocucom and scanned the surrounding area, where he spotted an RV marker not to far from his current location near a small dock. After Sly withdrew his Binocucom, he sprinted across the walkways while avoiding the bombs from the mercenary bombers until he found the two Vultures guards carrying the keys to the sewers; in a small area while circling around a real life guillotine. Seeing as how both Vultures were on the alert and his companion continued circling the wooden contraption, the raccoon knew he'd have to time his movements perfectly to avoid being spotted and more importantly...to create enough space between him and the two guards so he could pick-pocket one them and hide beneath cover.

After leaping down from the walkway that looked down directly at the guillotine, the crafty raccoon had silently approached the wooden device while keeping his distance so the Vulture walking around it would notice or spot him in his necklace torch. Once the Vulture was about to walk in front of his fellow guard, Sly had tossed out an alarm clock that landed right in front of the two dimwitted birds. Both Vultures squawked confused as they glanced around, trying to spot the clock as it continued to ring before breaking apart. While the two moronic guards still had their backs turned, the raccoon had silently crept up behind them, pick-pocketed the Vulture to his left and obtained the first key. Noticing the Vultures were about to turn around, he knocked them both out with a charged up spinning blow from his cane and deployed a smoke bomb before crawling underneath the guillotine's platform.

As soon as the Vultures had regained consciousness, they had both squawked confused as they knew someone had struck them from behind...but spotted no one. Thankfully for Sly, the two idiot birds didn't spot him underneath the guillotine...not even with the torches around their necks. After shrugging it off, the two guards continued with duty; one standing guard while the other kept circling the contraption. After pick-pocketing the Vulture with his back to the guillotine, Sly had waited for his friend to walk by before crawling back, crept up behind him and lifted off the second key! Once he obtained both key, the raccoon had stealthily backed away from the Vulture he just robbed and broke into a fast run; heading straight for the dock underneath the courtyard where and boarded the riverboat as it passed on by.

Once the boat had passed by the walkway, Sly leaped off the boat and crawled underneath one of the run-off drains, navigating the small tunnel that led into a small chamber underneath the streets of the village. He had then unlocked and removed the two padlocks and passed through the stone door, which revealed a huge room flooded with water! Knowing he could make good use of the cables to reach other to the other end of the room, Sly instinctive ninja spire jumped from wire to wire while sliding down the cables...but couldn't help but gasp as something **truly** unexpected happened: a number of huge tentacle belonging to either a squid or octopus had randomly popped out from the water underneath him!

 _'Tentacles? How could there be a squid or octopus down here in the sewers?!'_ The raccoon asked, not understanding how a deep sea creature like a squid or octopus could be residing in the sewers underneath the streets of the village!

Thanks to his swift reflexes, Sly was able to evade each tentacle as they attempted to swipe off the cables, until he reached a wooden walkway that was near his main objective: the back wall underneath Inspector Fox's and Howlett's HQ! After making swift work of the two Wolf guards stationed to protect the sewers, by knocking them off the walkway into the water with a couple of swift and strong blows with his cane, he leaped over to the back wall and approached the exposed wire leading up to the old bank that the corrupt vixen was using as her base of operations.

"I'd say we just lucky; the Contessa's men have already excavated Carmelita's satellite cable. How should I proceed?" The raccoon stated, while contacting Bentley and informing him that the Contessa's lackey's had already tore down the wall concealing the cable connected to the satellite on the roof of Carmelita's and Jack's HQ.

"Splice in the wire tap first, then attach the voice modulator. I'll broadcast from here in the safe house to make sure it works." Bentley answered, while walking his friend on which device went first and stating he'd be broadcasting from the safe house as a test run, to make sure their plan for the heist would work.

'This is going to be so cool!" He added with excitement detected in his voice, as he would be giving commands to the mercenary tank forces while disguising his nasal voice as either Carmelita or Jack!

After receiving his instructions on which device he was to attach to the cable, Sly had spliced in the wire tap first on top and the voice modulator underneath

"Okay Bent, I just inserted both devices onto the cable. I'm heading top side back to the hideout." The raccoon stated, informing his turtle friend that everything was all set for the test run before working his way out of the sewers.

~Back at outside in the village~

"Um, hello? Mercenary tank forces? Would you mind spinning your turrets for me?" Bentley requested through the satellite on top of Carmelita's and Howlett's, starting out his voice which quickly changed and sounded more like the corrupt vixen's voice instead!

"Gads, this is incredible!" The turtle stated over excited through the ham radio he was broadcasting from and spotted two-three mercenary tanks rotating their turrets, just like their 'boss' ordered.

"Uh, I mean...you are all...really incredible. Carry on." He added, stuttering at his own idiocy as he nearly gave himself away and was quick to correct himself before the tanks suspected something...which they didn't and continued patrolling the streets.

 _'Hmm, that wasn't Fox making that announcement. It must've been Cooper and his gang's doing.'_ Jack mentally stated to himself, as he was smoking a cigarette just outside his HQ and noticed how off his 'partner' sounded...especially since it started as a male with a nasal like voice speaking.

 _'I'm starting to see how that moron and bitch was never capable of arresting the Cooper Gang. They are too smart for her and she's always two steps behind.'_ He mentally added, as he understood now why Carmelita had never caught or arrested Sly and his friends: they were just too smart for her.

While Jack was smoking his cigarette. he spotted Sly climbing and jumping over a barrel near the drain pipe on the walkway...and the raccoon was surprised to see the wolf detective already outside his HQ, but swiftly recovered and regained his composure as he walked up to Howlett.

"That one of your friends?" Howlett asked, with his right leg propped over his left and placing the lit cigarette between his middle and pointer fingers as knew one of Cooper's teammates impersonating his 'partner'.

"Yeah, my tech support and bomb specialist, Bentley. When would..." Sly stated nodding, confirming that is was Bentley whom was impersonating the corrupt vixen...and was cut off as he was about to ask about when they would talk later today as they discussed yesterday.

"At the small section of the village near the side bridge in five minutes. If you want to bring your friends, that's fine with me." Jack stated while raising a hand, as he instinctively knew what Sly was about to ask and offered a suitable window for them to meet up and discuss his offer further.

"Alright. I'll grab Bentley and have him ask Murray to meet us at the small section of the village." The raccoon stated, showing he was perfectly fine with Howlett's terms in when and where they would meet to discuss his offer in helping him and his team with the heist to rescue Neyla and obtain the Clockwerk Eyes.

After waiting patiently for the mercenary tanks circling around the bank to pass on by, Sly had swiftly sprinted across the street, jumped over the abandoned car parked near the staircase leading to the hide out and stepped inside the safe house, with Bentley was sitting behind a ham radio he had set up on the briefing table.

"Bentley, I just had a run in with Jack." Sly stated, informing his turtle friend that he just bumped into the wolf detective and that was enough to earn his interest.

"Did he set up a time and place for the three of us to meet him?" Bentley asked, while raising an eye brow as he was intrigued that Sly was calling Howlett by his first name now.

"Yeah, he did. He asked for the three of us to meet him at the small section of the village behind the cafe in five minutes." The raccoon answered, confirming that Howlett had set up a time and location for the four of them to chat...while hoping that the conversation would go well without any complications.

"Alright, I'll contact Murray and have him meet us at the small section of the village after he's finished with his mission objective." The turtle answered, showing he was comfortable with the time table Howlett offered them and informed their hippo friend before he and Sly exited the safe house.

 _~With Murray~_

Right after he and Sly had exited the hide out and headed out for their designated RV points, the hippo had cautiously avoided the security lights while crossing over the bridge and entering the castle courtyard. After Murray had made swift work two guards patrolling the courtyard: a single Wolf and sole Bat guard that spotted him crossing the archway of the castle gate, he approached his RV point and contacted Bentley after taking out his Binocucom.

"Murray, we need you defeat six of Carmelita's and Howlett's tanks in order to intimidate their mercenaries from launching an early strike on the castle." The turtle stated, while explaining to his hippo friend that they needed to intimidate the mercenary tank forces in order to them more time to prepare for their rescue mission.

"Don't worry about me little buddy. I'll take care of those jar-head soldiers in no time flat." Murray stated, as he remembered perfectly how to operate a tank; due to previous experience back at the 'prison'.

"Be careful big guy, these mercenaries are ex-soldiers...which means they more experience operating and driving tanks than you." Bentley countered, revealing to the hippo that the mercenaries wouldn't be beaten that easily as they'd be more experienced in operating and driving military vehicles.

"Oh, and there's one last thing: Howlett requested that the three of meet him at that small section of the village...where the tank bay is located in 10 minutes." He added, revealing that Sly and Jack had bumped into each other earlier and how the wolf detective ask that they meet with him.

"I'll be right there as soon as I go to town on these chumps." The hippo stated, with a distrustful look on his face with the idea of meeting Howlett...but he also trusted Sly's judgment, especially since he and Bentley were wrong about Neyla when Sly brought her with them after they stole the Wings back at Rajan's palace.

After he and Bentley broke off contact, Murray had climbed into a side window of the tank bay...which wasn't exactly a fun experience; as he bumped into a number of things before finding a tank stored in the garage bay, climbing inside the military vehicle and making the necessary adjustments, so he wouldn't be cramped up while driving/operating the tank.

 _'Alright, show time!'_ The hippo mentally said to himself, while grinning as he was going to enjoy hunting the mercenary tank forces!

As soon as he entered the tank and the garage door opening itself automatically, Murray had drove the tank across the side bridge...and spotted a lone tank turning around the corner and driving down a sloped road,, with a blue light emitting underneath the turret. Before the mercenary tank could even get a shot off...Murray beat the river to it: firing a single shot three times; the first two shots simply damaging the body of the enemy tank and the third shot destroyed it completely! After taking out the first mercenary tank, the hippo spotted the second tank circling around the cafe he took it out before the mercenary driving it could even react. Murray had drove on, driving across a second wider bridge behind the cafe and close to the safe house while dealing with two tanks circling around their hide out.

Taking on two tanks at the same time proved a bit challenging and difficult for the hippo; after landing a single shot on the 3rd tank as it drove past the steps leading to their safe house...the 4th tank had aimed its turret directly towards Murray's and landed a shot! The hippo had shifted aim with his turret and fired two shots; scoring two hits while pulling back...and receiving a surprise sneak attack from the 3rd tank!

 _'Ugh! Bentley was right: these mercenaries are better at operating those tanks.'_ Murray mentally stated while groaning in pain, as he felt sparks shooting out from his tank controls and realizing the mercenaries weren't jokers like he thought!

Knowing he'd have to be more careful in taking care of the remaining four tanks, he waited for the 3rd tank to circle around the safe house and just as it made the turn past the stairs...Murray fired two direct hits that destroyed it! He then drove his tank past the safe house and destroyed the 4th tank as it was circling around the small square in front of Carmelita's and Jack's HQ. The hippo had proceeded to take out the last remaining tanks as they patrolled around the old bank, trading shots with the two mercenary tanks until they were both destroyed.

"Nice work Murray! That should intimidate the rest of those mercenary for a while." Bentley stated, congratulating his hippo friend for an excellent job for scaring Carmelita's and Howlett's hired guns.

"Anytime Bentley. I'll meet you and Sly at the rendezvous point for our chat with Howlett." Murray stated, smiling as he was pleased with himself after defeating six mercenary tanks all on his own...even though the tank he commandeered was badly damaged as he drove it back into the garage bay.

 _~With Sly and Bentley~_

After the raccoon and turtle exited the safe house, they crossed the bridge behind the cafe onto the small section of the village, where they saw Jack waiting patiently with his eyes closed and arms crossed as he leaned back against an abandoned dark green car.

"So...this is your friend who was impersonating Inspector Fox?" Howlett asked as he opened his eyes and stood up straight, while glancing down directly at the turtle.

"Yeah. Howlett this my friend and tech support Bentley." Sly stated casually while introducing his turtle friend to the wolf detective in a mutual tone...as Bentley was giving Howlett a wary look and slowly drawing his crossbow out.

Unknown to Jack, Sly and Bentley spotted Murray leaping off the roof of the tank bay...with a wooden crate above his head! As the hippo had quietly landed onto the side bridge and sneaked up behind Howlett to strike him with the wooden barrel...Jack had instinctively drew out both of his shock pistols; aiming the handgun in his right hand at the nerdy turtle and the one in his left directly at the hippo's face!

"Let's try to keep things peaceful, big boy. I asked Cooper to bring you two with him so we could talk, not fight." Jack said in mutual tone, while glancing behind him and Murray froze in place with a surprised look on his face...as Howlett already knew where he was!

"Murray, drop the barrel and Bentley, lower your crossbow. Jack and I didn't set this meet up so you guys could attack him, we're just here to chat." The raccoon stated while sighing softly at his friends paranoid personalities, reminding them they agreed to attend this meeting to simply talk with the wolf detective, not pick a fight with him!

"...Sorry about that Detective. But after what happened with a certain...vixen, we can't take too many chances trusting cops." Bentley stated, while lowering his crossbow and Murray simply tossed the barrel into the river.

"It's alright. If I were in your position...I'd feel the exact same way." Howlett answered while placing his shock pistols back into their holsters, since their little standoff was over thanks to Sly stopping his friends from doing something stupid.

"So...Sly says you want to help us rescue Neyla." The turtle stated while wanting to get straight to the point, while their hippo walked around the wolf detective and stood by his friends while crossing his arms.

"That's right. I'd like to offer my help when you boys attempt to launch an attack on the castle." Jack stated while crossing his arms against his chest, confirming that he indeed wished to assist them when they put their rescue plan into action.

"Look...Detective, we read your personal file and we can tell that you're an honest man...but after what Inspector Fox did to us back in India...we're more than capable of rescuing her ourselves." Bentley replied, stating that he, Murray and Sly had read Howlett's personal file from Interpol and could tell he was an honest cop from his service record...but after all the pain Carmelita put them through; they weren't going to put their trust in another cop who would eventually stab them in the back like she did.

"Wait, wait. What do you mean by what Inspector Fox 'did to you back in India'?" Howlett asked, as he was curious to what his 'partner' did to Cooper and his gang back in India...and he would not believe what he would soon learn about the vixen.

"...Before Neyla and I attempted to steal Rajan's half of the Clockwerk Heart, Carmelita shot me in the back with a round from her service pistol that left me unconscious...and after Neyla defeated Rajan...she showed herself and attacked us; knocking us out cold before handing us over to the Contessa." Sly answered while tightening his grip on his cane with his eyes showing great ire towards the corrupt vixen...while Murray placed a soft hand on his shoulder and Bentley a reassuring hand over his free hand, which helped calm him down.

"I...I didn't know. It was never on the...arrest report." The wolf detective answered while stammering flustered, as he fully understood what kind of 'woman' his 'partner' truly was and how Barkley wasn't aware of any of this as well.

 _'That lying bitch, she falsified her field report!'_ Jack mentally shouted in his mind, as he realized that Carmelita lied on her arrest report after returning from India before Inspector Barkley reached out to him!

"Look Cooper, I understand that you and your team don't trust me...especially after what that bitch and disgrace of a cop did to you and your friends back in India. But I can help you rescue Neyla." He stated, showing he understood why Sly and his friends were against the idea of letting him help them...but insisted as he wanted to rescue his old friend and former partner.

"And why should we trust you?" Murray demanded, while forming a fist and pounding it into his left palm; showing he'd beat him to death if he even thought about double crossing them!

"Because I know that Fox has no intention of bringing Neyla in to Barkley when we launch our own strike on the castle!" Jack barked back, while glaring at the hippo for threatening him...but cooled down as Sly raised his free hand up; as if ordering them to calm down!

"Now, look...I can help you boys. I'm going to take something out of my jacket pocket...and I need your friends not to do anything stupid Cooper." He added, while reaching into his left jacket pocket as the raccoon and his teams glanced with interest, as they wondered what Howlett was going to give them and he took out a flash drive.

"Before Barkley sent me and Fox here to arrest the Contessa, he made it clear to Carmelita that if the need came to bring in more fire power; like those bombers...that we'd have to decide who'd be in charge of our tank forces. Since she immediately took control of the the bombers..." Howlett stated while explaining that before he and Carmelita were sent to Prague, Barkley made sure they decided who was given command of their mercenary forces and how the corrupt vixen immediately took control of the bombers.

"...Which means you command the tanks." Sly stated as his, Murray's and Bentley's widened in shock as they quickly realized what was on the drive!

"On this flash drive is an audio sample of my voice...which will allow you gents to give commands to the tanks while impersonating me." Jack stated while offering Bentley the drive containing a sample of his voice...which the turtle slowly, yet kindly accepted.

"...Thank you, Detective." Bentley stated after accepting the flash drive and smiled, since disguising his voice as Howlett's would be a bit more easier and the tank forces would follow his commands while thinking he was their 'commander'.

"Perhaps...we could use your help." The turtle added, which slightly surprised his friends...which quickly passed as Sly and Murray knew what made their friend change his mind.

"If Sly and Bentley are willing to give you a chance Howlett...then that's good enough for me. But if you try to screw us over when we try to rescue Neyla..." The hippo stated, showing he'd be willing to give Jack a chance...and warned him what he'd do if he even thought about double crossing them!

"I have no intention of double crossing you guys. I don't even care about the Clockwerk Part, I'm just here to bring that manipulative and sociopathic spider to justice and save Neyla." Jack stated, giving Sly and his friends his word that they could trust him and surprised them further after saying he didn't even care about the Clockwerk Eyes; he was simply here to arrest the Contessa and rescue his old friend and training partner.

"Understood Detective. Before we begin our assault on the castle, we'll contact you." Bentley stated with a nod, showing he and his friends understood his true reasons for helping them; to arrest the corrupt arachnid and rescue Neyla.

"Alright. I need to get back to my HQ before Inspector Fox notices that I've been gone for too long." Jack stated, showing he understood and smiled softly as Sly and his team had agreed to allow him to assist them with their heist to save the tigress and take down the hated spider.

Howlett held out his hand, offering them a handshake to honor their temporary alliance...which Sly and his friends gladly accepted and shook. After the deal was struck, the four of them went their separate ways: Jack heading back to his HQ where the vixen was waiting for him to return from his 'recon mission' while Sly and Murray headed back to the hide out. As for Bentley; he walked across the side bridge to the tank bay, waited patiently for the river boat to pass by and once it floated close by, he landed safely on the vessel. After the boat had floated past the dock underneath the castle courtyard, the turtle jumped off the boat onto the dock, sprinted past the graveyard and found his designated RV point; which was near the gibbets behind the castle.

Once Bentley had punched in the code into the security panel beside the door, he stepped inside the crypt and contacted Sly after taking out his Binocucom.

"How are you going to hack the computers down there when they have no power?" His raccoon friend asked, wondering how he was planning on hacking the terminals in the crypt when they were offline.

"According to General Clawfoot, a mobile energy source is stored at the end of this hallway." Bentley answered, revealing that the elderly bat informed him how the Contessa stored an experimental battery at the end of this crypt he just entered.

"'Hallway' is a pretty kind term for what looks to me like a complex medieval gauntlet of death." Sly countered after his friend switched his glance from the deactivated terminal to the crypt that he needed to navigate which was littered with spike covered traps!

"Yes well...the idea of navigating a crypt filled with whirling, razor sharp spikes might scare me, in fact terrorize every fiber in my being; its the only way to power up that old computer in the -re-education' tower. Without that thing online, we'll never be able to get at the Clockwerk Eyes or free Neyla." The turtle answered, admitting that the idea of him having to make his way past the spike covered traps in the crypt indeed frightened him, it was the only to power up the old terminal in the 're-education' tower to rescue Neyla.

"You're a good man Bentley...just make sure those traps don't rip you into a hundred little turtle pieces." The raccoon stated, complimenting his friend for willing to risk his life to rescue his tigress...and joking about not getting killed by the traps.

"Why did you have to say that?" Bentley asked, with an annoyed glare at his friend's choice of words and bringing up the possibility that he wouldn't make it out of the crypt alive!

After putting his Binocucom away, the turtle carefully and thoroughly studied the movement of the spinning spiked logs, timing his movement to make sure the spikes didn't impale his legs or knocked him onto the spikes embedded into the floor. Once he made it past the spinning spiked logs, Bentley sprinted down a staircase that went further down into the crypt and led to another chamber; filled with more spinning spiked logs and swinging axes! Although he didn't have Sly's ninja and athletic moves...the turtle managed to make it through the spiked logs and axes, although he nearly ended being impaled by the dangerously sharpened traps. After going up a staircase past the axes that led to another level of the crypt, Bentley skillfully avoided the rolling spiked logs and entered one final chamber filled with spiked logs.

Once the turtle made it past all the spiked traps, he went down a staircase that led to another level of the crypt...which was flooded with water and littered with wooden boards, which he could use to reach the opposite end of the room. The moment Bentley jumped on the first board to reach the power source, a tentacle had popped out of the water and attempted to swat the turtle into the water...but missed as he ducked at the last second. After successfully crossing over to the opposite end of the room while avoiding the tentacles, he walked up to the stone steps to a stone pedestal that held some sort battery device.

"A-ha! This acid battery should do the trick. All I have to do is walk up any type of electrode and voila!"Bentley stated after identifying the power source that General Clawfoot spoke of and being familiar on how it worked; as he walked up to the deactivated console that was right beside the battery and it immediately came back online!

After the computer had been activated, the turtle immediately went to work with his computer hacking skills, which proved to be quite challenging as the security system was more advanced than back at the prison. Fighting through the security nodes in the terminal was tricky, but fortunately he was able to hack into the security system of the 're-education' tower.

 _~With Neyla and the Contessa~_

"I'm going to kill you Contessa!" Neyla yelled out, while attempting to break free from her restraints, but was futile as they were bolted down.

"Oh how many times do you plan to say that? It's never going to happen!" The Contessa countered, slightly annoyed with listening to the tigress repeating her idle death threats!

"I mean it, I'll kill you!" The tigress shouted, angered that the corrupt spider was mocking her threats of killing her, as if they were a fluke!

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" The arachnid stated in a mocking tone with her back towards Neyla, whom glared even more angry as she thought she was joking!

"When Sly and the others come for me, he and I are going to enjoy watching you beg for mercy!" The tigress cried out again, while entertaining the idea of beating the remorseless spider alongside her raccoon!

"That's what I'm counting on my dear. When your little boyfriend comes for you...I'll have a surprise for him." The Contessa countered with a dark smile on her face, as she had a rather insidious surprise planned for Sly and his gang.

However, unknown to the corrupt arachnid, one of the three nodes to the old computer had turned from red to green!

 _~Back with Bentley~_

"That's one down, two to go!" Bentley cried out, pleased with himself for activating the first node to the old terminal in the re-education tower!

"Hmm, I'd better not take any damage while carrying this battery to activate the other terminals...since it is filled with acid." He muttered softly while reminding himself that the battery he was lugging behind his shell was powered by a deadly and dangerous chemical that would kill him alive, inside and out!

After avoiding the tentacles while crossing the floating boards and memorizing the movements of the spiked rolling logs, the turtle had successfully avoided the traps and approached the 2nd terminal. Once the computer had came online, Bentley had instinctively went to work at bypassing the security system.

 _~With Neyla and the Contessa~_

"Hmm, maybe I should approach through your id instead of your conscious mind. That should extinguish any hopes of escaping your fate." The spider stated, while contemplating another method of breaking Neyla's spirit and hopes of being reunited with her raccoon lover.

While the Contessa was contemplating other methods of breaking down the tigress's psyche, the second node to the old terminal had turned on.

 _~Back With Bentley~_

After the second computer had been hacked, the turtle had struggled to work his way to the third and final terminal; as getting past the swinging axes and remaining spiked logs to the battery was brutal. But having to reach the entrance to the crypt? To anyone else, that would prove to be a slaughter...but thanks to Bentley's photographic memory, he timed his movements perfectly to avoid being harmed by the axes and spikes. Once he safely made it past the spikes, Bentley walked up the 3rd terminal near the entrance door to the crypt and immediately worked his hacking magic.

 _~With Neyla and the Contessa~_

"Why fight it Neyla? Don't you want us to be friends again?" The Contessa asked in a teasing voice, while wondering why she insisted on fighting the programming since it was pointless!

"Never! I'll never betray my friends, especially Sly! You and the rest of the Klaww Gang, especially that back stabbing bitch Carmelita can go straight to hell!" Neyla shouted back, while continuing to break free from the IronTech 250 and showing she would never betray her friends, especially her raccoon lover!

While the Contessa was attempting to speed up the brainwashing progress further, the third and final node to the old computer had switched on; which meant the terminal was online!

 _~Back with Bentley~_

"Alright! With that old terminal in the re-education tower online, Neyla is as good as free!" The turtle cried out, proud of himself for making it through the crypt alive and activating the computer in the re-education tower, which would allow him and his friends save the tigress!

After discarding the acid battery off his shell and exiting the crypt, Bentley had sprinted towards the castle courtyard, across the bridge and past the mercenary tanks until reaching the safe house. Once inside, the turtle and his friends had congratulated each other on a job well down out in the field before heading for bed, to rest up for the heist and rescue mission for tomorrow.

'Hold on Neyla. We're coming for you. Just hold on a little bit longer.' Sly mentally said to himself, while praying for his tigress lover to stay strong and keep fighting against the Eye's hypnotic gaze.

 **A/N: There it is everyone, the 2nd half to A Tangled Web episode. I'm so terribly sorry for the insanely long wait, I've just been so busy with work and spending time with my family. I've also been juggling between working on my Spyro, Walking Dead and new Mario fanfic stories. The next chapter for Operation: High Road for be posted next by this weekend.**


	17. Operation: High Road

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any of its characters except for my OC**

 **A/N: Hello everyone, here is the chapter for Operation: High Road! There will be a couple of major and surprising twists; where Sly and his team make a daring assault on the castle to obtain the Clockwerk Eyes, reclaim the 2nd half of the Heart, rescue Neyla and more importantly: get their revenge on a much hated spider and vixen. Please sit back and enjoy.**

 **Reviews and comments will be appreciated**

 **Chapter 17; Operation High Road**

After morning had arrived, Sly and his friends ate a whole healthy breakfast while Bentley had put together a slide show presentation on how they would obtain the Clockwerk Eyes, steal back the 2nd half of the Heart and more importantly...rescue Neyla from the Contessa's clutches and vile experiment.

"Today is the day boys. It's time to wage war on the castle and in the confusion pull off a heist that I've named Operation: High Road!" Bentley stated, informing his friends and teammates that they would finally free their tigress friend/teammate along with getting their revenge against the corrupt arachnid while presenting three separate slides: one of the castle, one of a Wolf guard patrolling the front courtyard and finally, one of the 're-education' tower. Written across the center of the third slide was the the name of their plan, Operation: High Road.

"First, Murray will deactivate the spotlights on the main gate with the codes provided by General Clawfoot." The turtle stated, while switching to a slide of the castle bridge and drawing two X's in yellow marker over the security spotlight lights; which represented being turned off.

"Then with the voice modulator and audio sample provided by Detective Howlett, I'll order the mercenary tanks to attack!" He added, explaining how he would disguise his voice as Jack's and order the tanks to storm the castle grounds; while displaying two separate slides: one of the satellite dish above Carmelita's and Howlett's HQ and another of a mercenary tank approaching the bridge!

"Sly will then para-glide us over to the Contessa's blimp. Once we've commandeered it, we'll use it to get inside her 're-education' tower." Bentley continued, stating how he and the raccoon would para-glide from one of the castle's highest towers over to the Contessa's blimp, hijack and use it to sneak inside the 're-education' while presenting two slides: one of the tower he and Sly would use to para-glide over to the blimp and the other of the re-education tower itself.

"The assault on the castle will no doubtingly draw the Shadow Guards away from their posts." The turtle stated, claiming how the battle would lure the Contessa's elite soldiers out of the tower; while presenting a slide of the three Vulture guards and X's drawn over two of them, which represented being out of the picture.

"While I work on freeing Neyla from the IronTech 250, Detective Howlett will due his part by clearing out the Contessa!" He continued, stating how Jack would be helping them by chasing the corrupt spider out of the tower as well; while switching over to a slide of both Neyla and the Contessa; with an exclamation point drawn over her head, representing 'surprise' and an arrow pointing down the corridor!

"With the Mind Shuffler exposed and unprotected, I'll plant the bad mojo bomb and then Presto! The Clockwerk Eyes are ours!" Bentley added, stating he would plant the bad mojo bomb to the Mind Shuffler and how the explosion would release the Clockwerk Eyes, while switching over two separate slides: one of the computer console the Contessa had been working behind and one of the Eyes hypnotizing Neyla!

"So if you guys are ready, let's get into our positions and get this operation started!" He concluded with an excited tone in his voice, while presenting one final slide of the castle grounds.

"But what about the second half of the Heart?" Murray asked, while pointing out that his genius turtle friend had left out the Heart during the presentation.

"We don't need to worry about forgetting the 2nd portion of the Heart big guy." Bentley stated in a cool and calm voice, showing his hippo friend that he didn't forget about the 2nd half of the Clockwerk Heart.

"While I was interrogating General Clawfoot about the security codes to the castle gates, I also asked about the Heart. He told me that the Contessa kept it hidden in a safe in the pilothouse of the blimp...along with the combination to open it." The turtle revealed, explaining while he questioned the senile old bat about the codes to the castle gates, he also asked about the 2nd half of the Heart and learned where the corrupt spider placed it inside her blimp!

"I already contacted Detective Howlett and he'll meet me and Sly on the roof of the tower where we'll glide over to the blimp." He added, revealing that he had reached out to Jack, discreetly and asked him to meet him and the raccoon at the tower where they would glide to the blimp and commandeer it.

Without wasting another second, Sly and the gang had exited the safe house to get the operation and their rescue mission rolling. The moment they approached and crossed the bridge while skillfully avoiding the security lights, the raccoon and turtle headed for the tower for Bentley to make the announcement for the mercenaries to attack while Murray approached the keypad behind the left archway.

"I hope that old geezer for a general was telling the truth...or this is going to get real ugly." The hippo stated softly while hoping the codes that General Clawfoot provided them would work as he punched in the numbers...or otherwise their rescue plan and heist would be in huge trouble.

After inputting the code that would supposedly deactivate the security lights on the gate...he smiled as the search light had turned off, which proved the code was valid!

"Oh, yeah! The lights are down Bentley, time to call in cavalry! I'll try to find some extra firepower to help out!" Murray cried out in glee after witnessing the search lights shut off and saying he would look for an unused tank to help tip the scales in their favor!

 _~With Bentley and Sly~_

After they climbed up the tallest tower on the castle grounds, the turtle had pulled out a long distance wireless walk-talkie connected to the ham radio set up back in the hide out to give the mercenary tanks their orders.

"Attention bloodthirsty mercenary tank forces, this is Detective Howlett speaking: the castle defenses are down! Seize this opportunity for aggressive military action by pressing an attack on the castle! Inspector Fox and I are going after the Contessa! Now charge!" Bentley stated into the radio, 'commanding' the tank mercenaries to launch an attack on the castle while impersonating their real commanding officer and thanks to the voice modulator...the tanks did as ordered and rolled across the bridge!

"That should do it." The turtle stated in his normal voice, while smiling at how good he was with disguising his voice and fooling the idiot mercenary tank forces by giving them orders as their real 'commanding officers'!

"Heh, that was a pretty believable impression." Jack stated as he had just arrived and joined both the turtle and Cooper onto the roof of the tower with a lit cigarette between his lips.

"I recognize myself." He added, claiming he was rather impressed by how good the small and geeky turtle was at having idiot thugs and hired guns practically eating out of his hands through his technical expertise.

"Now that you're done being a warmonger Rambo, feel like paragliding over to that blimp?" Sly asked with a hint sarcasm in his voice, while also amused by the 'Rambo' side of his turtle friend since he practically enjoyed fooling the mercenary tanks by telling them what to do!

"Just make sure to grab the rope hanging by the side of that thing. I don't want to drown." Bentley stated, while ignoring that 'Rambo' comment from his raccoon friend and reminding him not to miss the rope or they'd both drown to their deaths.

"Wait. You're seriously telling me that the two of you and the big boy can't swim?" Howlett asked before they made the jump to paraglide over to the blimp, as he was surprised to hear that Cooper and his friends didn't know how to swim!

"We never learned how, alright? It's not like anyone ever bothered and offered to teach us while growing up as kids." The raccoon replied, while telling Jack to back off after learning that he and his friend's couldn't swim as they didn't have anyone to teach them.

Once Bentley had jumped and clung onto his back, Sly approached the ledge of the roof and had a casual smirk on his face...as the blimp was drifting real close to the tower they were on. After talking a few steps back to give him the decent space for his running start...the raccoon had sprinted, leaped off the ledge of the roof and deployed his paraglider! As they silently sailed into the air, a sudden air current had propelled them towards the blimp...and Sly had latched his cane onto the rope and climbed up to the deck, while Bentley silently gulped as he couldn't believe how high up they were!

After witnessing the raccoon's amazing dash off the roof and safely reaching the blimp with his turtle friend, Jack had followed their lead; breaking into a running start and gliding towards the blimp with his own paraglider after jumping off the tower! Both Sly and Bentley were deeply impressed as they had witnessed Howlett jumping and gliding their air with a crimson red paraglider with a navy blue underside. Once he reached the blimp and grabbed the rope, Jack had climbed up to the deck...where Sly had offered a hand to help pull him on board, which he gladly accepted. After the three of them had set foot on the deck, they were immediately greeted by two Wolf guards that were assigned to protect both the aircraft and Heart!

"Hang back. I'll deal with these two brainless mutts." Howlett stated, volunteering to fight the two canine guards himself which surprised both Sly and Bentley as he stepped forward!

The two Wolves had glared and growled angrily at that insult, especially by a cop that was the same species as them! After seeing that Jack hadn't drawn out either of his shock pistols, the Wolves thought that killing him would be rather easy...only they would soon be sadly mistaken. The first Wolf had attempted to pummel Howlett with an overhead smash with his mace...only to miss as Jack had swiftly sidestepped to the right and land a lightning fast jumping spin kick! The first brainless canine had cried out in surprise, as the swift and powerful kick sent it skidding back towards the pilothouse, knocked out into a daze! The second guard was shocked by how fast its fellow lackey had been defeated and swiftly shared a similar fate: as Howlett had placed his arms around its neck in a headlock, somersaulted them both as they rolled overhead and tossed the 2nd Wolf guard off the blimp!

"Wow...that was...incredible...!" Sly stated as he was surprised beyond words at how skilled Jack was at close-quarter and hand to hand combat!

"That was...absolutely amazing...! The way he timed and performed his movements...was flawless!" Bentley replied, as he was just as speechless by how quick the wolf detective had took out both guards without much effort!

As soon as the first Wolf guard had regained consciousness, it whimpered in fear at the angry looks Jack, Sly and Bentley had given it and timidly asked through gesturing: pointing to itself and then towards the railing; which could be plainly translated as 'Off the blimp, right?'

"Yeah." The three of them answered with a smile and chuckled as the cowardly canine did just that: ran and jumped off the blimp, falling to its death!

"He he he, well that was easy." The wolf detective stated, while chuckling after seeing the Wolf guard he had knocked out, regain consciousness and killed itself after seeing the angry looks they had given it!

"You can say that again Jack." The raccoon replied, as he shook his head as he found the cowardly canine guard's last act hilarious; how it pointed to itself and gestured to the railing while looking at them before leaping to its death!

"Murray is going to be laughing hard when we tell him all about it." The turtle stated, while shaking his head at the hilarious moment they had witnessed and couldn't wait to tell their hippo friend as soon as they made a clean getaway with the Eyes, Heart and more importantly...Neyla.

"I, um, believe there's something on this aircraft that belongs to you fellas?" Jack while clearing his throat and gesturing to the pilothouse, reminding Cooper and his friend about the Heart.

"Your damn right about that." Sly stated strongly, as he and his friends never forgot about India: how the corrupt spider had taken the 2nd half of the Heart after Neyla defeated Rajan and Carmelita brutally knocked him and his tigress out before their capture...but know, they had the opportunity to reclaim it!

"Detective, could you pilot the blimp while Sly and I search for the safe?" Bentley asked, requesting that Howlett fly the blimp towards the re-education tower while he and his raccoon friend searched for the safe holding the Heart!

"You got it." Jack answered, showing he had no problem piloting the aircraft while the raccoon and turtle ransacked the pilothouse for the safe that held the second half of the Clockwerk part they attempted to steal back in India.

Once they stepped inside the small pilothouse, Howlett had sat behind the computer console and took manual command of the controls. While the wolf detective was piloting them towards the re-education tower, Sly and Bentley had searched the pilothouse for the Contessa's secret safe and thanks to the information provided by General Clawfoot...they knew exactly where to look: behind the huge portrait of the Contessa with her husband on their wedding day. Both the raccoon and turtle couldn't help but scoff at the portrait: since that was also the day the corrupt spider had poisoned and killed her husband only to get access to his wealth and personal estate. After they removed the portrait, Sly and Bentley smiled as the safe was right where the elderly bat said it would be.

"What's the combination to this safe Bent?" The raccoon asked, as he knelt down to punch in the numbers provided by Clawfoot.

"According to the general, the combination should be...5-3-7." The turtle answered, while he had doubts about the numbers due to the elderly bat muttering different combination of numbers and swearing that 5-3-7 was the code to open it.

Sly had inputted the numbers that his friend suggested, with them both hoping that it was the correct combination...and to their initial surprise and delight...it was in fact the real code and the door to the safe had opened! Resting inside was the 2nd half of the Heart, which caused their smiles to grow wider as the raccoon had removed from the safe and held it in his hands.

"We did it Bentley. We've finally got the 2nd half of the Heart." He state while chuckling as he handed to his turtle friend, whom in turn chuckled while holding the still beating robotic organ.

"The only Clockwerk part left to steal from that demented spider are the Eyes buddy." The turtle replied, pleased that they finally recovered Rajan's half of the Heart and knew the only Clockwerk part left to steal were the Eyes.

"Cooper? We're nearing the re-education tower." Jack stated as he glanced back towards Sly and Bentley, informing them they were seconds away from approaching the tower.

After hearing they were approaching the re-education tower, the raccoon and turtle had placed the Heart back in the vault where it would be safe from harm and walked up behind Howlett as he piloted the blimp near the rear balcony. As they neared the balcony...Sly was taking in deep breath to calm and prepare himself before stepping inside that tower, especially since he feared the possibility that the Contessa had probably succeeded in brainwashing his Neyla against him, Bentley and Murray.

"...Sly..." Howlett stated softly and that was enough to earn to earn the raccoon's attention, since Jack had just called him by his first name.

"If the Contessa has brainwashed Neyla...you'll be the only one to help her fight the programming." The wolf detective stated softly, fearing the same outcome as Cooper and Bentley did and claiming that the raccoon would be the only one to get through to the tigress in order to help her break free from the spider's mind control.

"Alright...let's do this." Sly stated after calming himself, while hoping and praying that they weren't too late as he, Bentley and Jack had stepped out of the pilot house and climbed through the window after jumping over to the balcony.

Once inside the tower, the three of them had spotted the Contessa with her Shadow Guard, demanding a status report from outside on the castle grounds while Neyla remained strapped down to the IronTech 250 and being hypnotized by the Eyes gazing into her own.

"What! The mercenaries have already breached the castle defenses?!" The spider demanded, shocked upon learning how swiftly her tank forces were being decimated by Carmelita and Jack's mercenaries!

"All of you, go! Defend this tower to the last man!" She ordered, commanding her elite soldiers to face the mercenary forces themselves personally, even if it meant they were to be killed!

The captain of the elite Vultures had gave a simple 'squawk' and salute with his right wing; showing that he and his fellow Guards would do as she commanded without hesitation. The lead Vulture had walked down the stairway to the main entrance onto the battlefield, with the other two right behind him. As her loyal and elite soldiers had exited the room, the Contessa had walked back to the console to finish the procedure with the tigress still attempting to fight the programming.

"Don't worry my dear. I still have a little time to make the necessary 'readjustments' to your mind before the procedure is complete." The corrupt arachnid coldly stated, claiming she still needed to make a few last minute 'adjustments' before fully reprogramming Neyla's mind.

"I...I...I'll never turn against Sly and my friends! When he comes for me, we'll take our sweet time readjusting your ugly face!" The tigress shouted back, although showing signs of exhaustion and extreme pain, as she had exhausted a huge amount of strong will to resist the brainwashing procedure...but no longer had any strength left.

"Bentley, hurry! I don't think Neyla has any strength left to keep fighting the programming." Sly stated as he turned and begged his friend to quickly get to work on the old terminal, as he could tell that his tigress didn't have the energy to resist the Eye's hypnotic gaze.

"I'm already on it buddy! If my hunch about this old computer is on the money, I should be able to access the restraints to free her." Bentley stated as he swiftly approached the terminal and got down to business, while hoping that the restraints to the IronTech 250 were indeed stored in the old computer as he glanced back into the small chamber.

 _'Just hold on a little bit more Neyla! Sly and I are getting you out of here and bringing you home!'_ The turtle mentally pleaded, hoping and praying for his tigress friend and teammate to keep fighting; as he and the raccoon were this close to rescuing her.

Hacking in the old terminal was slightly more difficult than he thought, as the security system stored in this old computer was more complex than the previous ones. But due to his strong determination to rescue his friend and teammate had given him all the motivation to beat it. Once the turtle had bypassed the security and found the code to the IronTech 250...the restraints had immediately became unlocked and Neyla's wrists went limp as she lost consciousness!

"A-ha! I've isolated the brainwave pattern and all that's required is a small test run. You and are about to become the 'best of friends' Neyla." The Contessa stated, claiming she had finally managed to gain control of the tigress as the Eyes continued sending hypnotic waves into her unconscious form and all that was needed was a simple test to confirm the procedure had worked!

After hearing those demented words leaving the spider's lips, Jack snarled angrily as Bentley had also found the security code to the gate...which unlocked and fell over to the side with a loud 'thud' and he immediately drew out both of his shock pistols!

"Alright new 'best friend'...feel free to resist arrest!" He stated, growling with great contempt for the corrupt arachnid whom had tortured the tigress, who was once his partner and attempted to turn into a puppet!

"What in the world?!" The Contessa cried out in complete surprise as the gate had slammed open and turned to see Howlett aiming both his shock pistols at her...with both his fingers resting on the triggers, along with Sly and Bentley hanging back!

"You're too late Cooper! Your little girlfriend is now under my control!" The demented spider cried out with an evil smirk plastered on her face, informing the raccoon and turtle they were too late and she now had control over Neyla's mind!

"Neyla, when you awake you will attack Cooper!" She commanded before Jack fired a single electric round from his shock pistols and that was enough to force her to flee from the chamber!

"Shadow Guard! Shadow Guard!" The Contessa cried out, screaming for her elite soldiers as the wolf detective gave chase!

"I'm going to make you pay for what you did to her, you cowardly bitch!" Jack shouted as he fired two more rounds from his handguns, which the fleeing spider dodged as she continued to run!

"Bentley...whatever happens...whatever you see, stay back." Sly stated, asking his turtle friend not to get involved as he attempted to get through to his tigress, in order to help her break through the programming.

"...B-But Sly..." Bentley muttered softly, trying to talk his friend and team leader out of it...but remembered Howlett's words from earlier; how his raccoon friend would be the only one to get through to the tigress.

"Promise me." He stated in a soft but strong firm tone, leaving no argument for his request as this was the only to help his Neyla break free from the Contessa's hypnotic hold over her.

"...I promise." The turtle stated in the same tone of voice, showing he respected his friend wish and decision to help Neyla regain control of her mind as he took a few steps back...and sadly witnessed at what was about happen.

"Neyla?" The raccoon asked softly as he approached his unconscious lover and just as he was about to place a soft hand to her wrist...he gasped as her eyes opened...glowed green!

The tigress had swiftly gotten a strong hold of Sly's left wrist and with a sharp twist, began seriously injuring the bones and he cried out in pain as she twisted his left radius! The hypnotized Neyla had then folded her right leg in and thrust it straight out, landing a powerful kick to the raccoon's upper mid-torso and he staggered three steps back after freeing his wrist from her grip!

"Neyla, stop! It's me, Sly!" He cried out, shocked and saddened that his tigress had just attacked him...and she emotionlessly climbed off the metal rack and coldly approached him.

She had attempted to land a roundhouse kick, which he easily dodged by ducking at the right moment, followed by a right and left hook that also missed! The next blow she landed was an inside kick, striking Sly on the left side of his neck and the tigress landed another kick into his stomach! Bentley could only watch as the raccoon had refused to fight the brainwashed tigress and simply took each blow she either attempted or successfully landed.

"Why don't you fight back?" Neyla demanded, as she was confused to why the raccoon hadn't bothered to strike her back after he evaded another inside kick!

"Because...you're my girlfriend and teammate." Sly stated after dodging the kick, evading a right hook and another kick, that was close to his head!

"I don't know you!" She yelled out, as she angrily charged the raccoon; grabbing a hold of his cane, shoving him towards the left wall by the entrance leading to the stairwell and the impact of being smashed into the ragged bricks caused him to cry out in pain!

"Neyla, remember who you are! Your place is with us; the Cooper Gang!" The raccoon cried out, while pleading with the tigress to break free from the programming as she proceeded to land four-six strong knees to his lower stomach and he merely took it, even though he grunted and cringed from the blows!

"S-S-Shut up!" The tigress cried out, as she felt a sudden sharp and painful sensation coursing through her mind as she had gotten a strong grip on his shirt and tossed him across the room, near the weapon rack by the IronTech 250!

After seeing the pain Neyla was in, both Sly and Bentley knew that could mean only one thing...that she was starting to remember, but the Eyes hypnotic influence wouldn't give up without a fight! Knowing this was his chance, the raccoon had tackled the tigress onto the ground and pinned her wrists down so she couldn't throw or land any punches!

"Look at me!" He demanded in a strong authoritative tone, which earned a surprised look from the stunned hypnotized feline as the raccoon had panted from the blows she landed on him.

"Neyla, try to remember the ballroom back in India; where we shared our first kiss after our dance!" Sly ordered softly, pleading with his tigress lover to remember their relationship; by mentioning how they shared their kiss during the heist to steal the Clockwerk Wings.

 _~Flashback~_

 _Neyla was still sitting in the bar, casually glancing around the ballroom while keeping an eye out for Sly, but also for Arpeggio. There had been no sign of him the whole evening, which probably meant the parrot was no longer around the palace._

 _"Good evening, my sweet. Are you ready for our dance?" Came a suave voice from behind her, which caused a soft grin as she turned around and looked up to meet a pair of chocolate brown eyes staring back at her._

 _"I was getting worried something had gone wrong with your plan." She answered as she stood up from her seat and casually offered her right hand, which Sly naturally accepted and gently held in his own._

 _"Nothing could keep me from you." Sly said as his eyes shined with love and placing a tender kiss on the back of her hand, which earned a loving smile from the tigress._

 _"I know." Neyla replied as she wrapped her arms around him and they stared into each other's eyes as Sly started to lean in, but from the corner of her eye Neyla saw the Contessa_ _walking along the upper floor, where there was perfect view over the whole room._

 _She wasn't glancing in their direction, but Neyla didn't want to risk it; especially if the spider would recognize the raccoon through his disguise._

 _"Sly, don't. " The tigress said, gesturing to the upper floor and he glanced up to see who it was that ruined their moment._

 _"Ah, the Contessa. You're here with her?" The raccoon asked as he reluctantly released his hold of Neyla, with a sympathized glance as understood that she didn't want to get into hot water with the spider._

 _"Yes...unfortunately." She answered grudgingly, showing a strong dislike towards the arachnid...since she saw first hand how sadistic her 'field supervisor' could be and was disgusted that Arpeggio had sent her to keep an eye on her; to make sure she remained loyal to their organization._

 _"You're not fond of her?" Sly asked, as he could tell right away that the tigress didn't like her 'supervisor' and knew they had to wait for spider to leave and glanced back to see Murray, waiting patiently while dangling from the winch for them to dance._

 _"Not exactly, no." Neyla answered as they looked up to the 2nd floor at the Contessa carefully and waited until she had left her spot, which thankfully she finally did much to their relief._

 _"Now, shall we dance?" The raccoon asked, when he was sure that the Contessa was gone for good and offering her a gentleman's hand, which she happily accepted and_ _as of on cue; a tango began playing._

 _"We shall, Ringtail." The tigress answered with a bright smile as they walked into the center of the dance floor._

 _Apparently the pair was remembered from last night, because as they stepped onto the empty dance floor the other guests had given them all the space they needed for their tango._

 _"It seems we got a few admirers from last night." Sly stated plainly with a crafty smirk and Neyla mirrored the smile as they took their positions from the night before._

 _As their dance began, Neyla was again mesmerized as her dancing with the raccoon was just as lovely as last night. Sly was into every spin and dip, as he glanced deeply into her eyes. The song was the same but he did the dance differently and Neyla was more than happy to follow his lead. She had always thought herself as a decent dancer, but Sly really knew what he was doing this time time and the raccoon ended the dance with a graceful dip._

 _"I love you, Sly." The tigress stated in a soft and loving voice, confessing her feelings for the charismatic and charming raccoon thief._

 _"I love you too, Neyla." The raccoon answered back in the same soft and loving voice, confessing he felt the same way for Neyla and leaned in, sharing a rather romantic kiss._

 _The crowd applauded loudly at the sight: both for the dance they had just performed and kiss they had just shared after their dance and the music was over._

 _~End of Flashback~_

Neyla had screamed in great pain as the memories of that night back in India had flooded right through her mind and she writhed in agony; as the programming from the procedure still refused to release its hold over her! The memories of that night also helped her fight back against the Eyes hypnotic influence: the memory of that dance in the ballroom and the first kiss she and Sly shared after confessing their love for each other.

"Try to remember our moment together before we attempted to steal Rajan's half of the Heart." The raccoon stated in a soft and firm tone again, while tearing up himself after seeing the agony his lover was in...but knew it was necessary to help his Neyla regain control of her mind.

The tigress had groaned and writhed in pain, as she struggled to think back like Sly asked of her; trying to remember the fateful day they attempted to steal Rajan's portion of the Clockwerk Heart.

 _~Flashback~_

 _"Come on Murray, let's get this operation started." Bentley stated, as he understood that Sly and Neyla needed a minute before they were ready. He and the hippo had exited the house and headed out for their RV point._

 _"Neyla...what's the matter?" Sly coaxed softly, wondering what caused his tigress to be so quiet and upset._

 _"Sly...I've got this...awful feeling that something terrible is going to happen." The tigress answered, with a fearful look in her eyes that something horrible would happen while they tried to steal Rajan's half of the Heart._

 _"Neyla...nothing's going to happen. If we stick to the plan and do our parts right, we'll get out of here quick and clean." Sly stated, assuring her that nothing terrible would happen._

 _"I'll never let anything happen to you my beautiful tigress. I'd die first before letting Arpeggio or the rest of the Klaww Gang capture or hurt you." Her raccoon lover added adamantly, showing that he would never let Arpeggio or anyone else hurt her._

 _"Sly...I would do the same for you. I love you, my handsome Ringtail." Neyla smiled, as her boyfriend's words had relieved any remaining sense of fear about the operation and the motivation she needed to proceed with the heist._

 _They had shared a burning and passionate kiss, sealing the promise they had made to each other and smiled lovingly as they looked into each other's eyes._

 _"I love you too beautiful. Now let's get this heist started." Sly said, as he placed a gentle kiss on his tigress's forehead and they both headed out for the truck to pick up the Cherry Bomb 500._

 _~End of Flashback~_

Neyla had continued to cry out in sheer pain, as the memories before her's and Sly's capture at the hands of both Carmelita and the Contessa had given her an extra push to fight back against the programming!

 _'I...I know this man...!'_ She mentally said to herself, as her raccoon lover's words had finally managed to break through the spider's sadistic torture methods and the Eyes hypnotic gaze!

 _'No, you don't! This man is your target, your enemy! Kill him! Kill him now!'_ A different female voice shouted, which she quickly identified at the Contessa's due to the last minute 'adjustments' she made: having the Eyes transfer commands through her voice!

 _'S-S-Shut up! I won't do it!'_ The tigress screamed back, refusing to follow any of her commands as she continued to fight the programming!

After seeing that his words were getting through to her, Sly knew that his lover needed one last push to help her break free from the Contessa's and Eyes hold over her.

"Neyla, my love. Try to remember our reunion back in the prison...before that cold hearted bitch brought you here." The raccoon stated softly, asking his tigress to remember their small reunion after he found her through the vents of the prison.

 _~Flashback~_

 _"Psst, Neyla. Neyla!" The raccoon whispered, hoping his tigress girlfriend could hear him._

 _"Wha...Sly?" The tigress asked, while slowly siting up after hearing her raccoon lover's voice._

 _Neyla had groaned and winced in pain from the previous beating she received from the Vultures guards yesterday. But the good news was that she had managed to steal her whip back which meant she could probably perform her part of the mission._

 _"Where are you?" She asked while glancing around her empty, single holding cell while trying not to attract any unwanted attention from the Wolf inmates pacing around the workout center._

 _"I'm over here babe; in the back wall." Sly answered back softly, so his girlfriend knew where he was._

 _"Sly...you have no idea how glad I am to see you!" Neyla stated after approaching the back wall and smiling after seeing her raccoon after being separated the past four days after India!_

 _"I'm glad to see you too beautiful." The raccoon replied while smiling back, but couldn't help but feel angry and disappointed with himself...especially after seeing how still injured his tigress lover was when she walked up to him in the vent._

 _Sly's blood was boiling after he saw the current and still forming bruises over her body; mostly around her legs, ankles, chest...and his Neyla's flawless face, along with multiple scars. He intended to make the Contessa and every one of her guards for laying a hand on her!_

 _"How did you escape?" The tigress asked, but immediately knew the answer as she witnessed a sneaky smile appear on his face and she smiled in return._

 _"It was all thanks to Bentley and Murray." Sly stated, which confirmed and answered her suspicion on how he escaped._

 _"I'm guessing that Bentley has a plan for you chaps to bust me out too, handsome?" Neyla asked, while flirting with her raccoon boyfriend._

 _"You guessed right beautiful. Bentley's found a weakness in the solitary confinement cell. If you can get into a huge fight, the guards will throw you in there." He stated while explaining the plan and flirting with his tigress lover at the same time._

 _"Are you positive?" She asked, while already knowing this plan was both her and Sly's one and only shot at being completely reunited._

 _"Trust me, babe. I'm speaking from personal experience." Sly answered jokingly and it earned a soft chuckle and small smile from his tigress._

 _"Can you still fight?" He asked, showing concern if she was capable of getting into a large enough scrap to get moved into the solitary confinement section._

 _"I'm not that injured...and I am looking for a little payback against the Contessa's thugs for all those beatings they gave me." Neyla stated, while glaring angrily at the single Vulture guard operating the main control room._

 _'That's my girl.' Sly mentally stated, while smiling both softly and proudly on how strong-willed and spirited his tigress lover was._

 _"But Sly..." The tigress added, with a look of sadness and it could also be detected in her tone._

 _"What is it?" He asked, showing he was concerned about what caused Neyla to be filled with sadness._

 _"You, Bentley and Murray need to work fast...because today is going to be my last day here in the 'prison'. Tomorrow afternoon...I'm going to be relocated." Neyla answered, w revealing that today was going to be her last day before being moved somewhere else!_

 _"Where are they moving you to?" Sly asked, completely surprised after hearing the Contessa was planning on moving her to another secure location tomorrow afternoon!_

 _"Her own personal estate, by air on her personal blimp...that's where she's hidden the second half of the Clockwerk Heart." She answered while revealing to her raccoon lover on where and how she was going to be relocated...including where the corrupt spider had hidden Rajan's half of the Heart after India!_

 _"Alright, I'll pass that information along to the guys." The raccoon stated...although there was a sound of discouragement in his voice and matching expression of his face._

 _Neyla had somehow sensed the deep feeling of discouragement, along with anger and disappointment building up in her raccoon lover. She knew that Sly had blamed himself for failing to keep the promise he made to her before they attempted to steal Rajan's half of the Heart: how he would never let anyone ever harm her...and he failed to keep it. But she didn't blame her raccoon and never would. There was only one person to blame for what happened back in India and for all the pain/suffering they went through...Carmelita!_

 _"Sly, I need you to listen to me..." She started off softly and it was enough to get his attention._

 _"I don't blame you for not being able to keep your promise, my love. And I never will. What happened back at the Spice Temple was not your fault." The tigress added, showing raccoon boyfriend that she didn't blame him for her getting hurt back in India or here in the 'prison'._

 _"I know that Neyla...I just..." The raccoon stated, trying to let his tigress lover's word sink in...but he still felt guilty for not being able to keep his promise._

 _"Sly...we both know this was going to happen eventually...and I don't blame you Ringtail. There's only one person we should blame and hate for this happening." Neyla continue showing and reminding her lover that there was one person they should blame for all the pain they went through the past four days._

 _"There sure is." Sly nodded, agreeing with his girlfriend that there was only one person they should blame; a certain corrupt fox inspector!_

 _"The others and I will break you out Neyla. I'll come back for you, that's a promise." He added, with a new firm and strong determination of rescuing his tigress._

 _"I'll be waiting for you, my love." She answered back, before pressing the tips of her index and pointer fingers to her lips and sliding them between the small openings of the vent._

 _Sly had copied the same gesture; putting the gloved covered tips of his index and pointer fingers to his lips and sliding them between the opening. They had pressed their fingers together, and they both closed their eyes as they savored every second of their intimate moment. The raccoon knew this was the closest thing he and his tigress would get to an kiss...and they wanted to savor every second as they could._

 _"I love you Sly." Neyla whispered softly, before she and her boyfriend pulled their fingers back from the between the vent._

 _"I love you too Neyla. We'll come for you, I promise." The raccoon answered back, softly while feeling downhearted that the reunion with his Neyla was too quick and he crawled backwards to the drain pipe._

 _~End of Flashback~_

Sly had slowly leaned down and planted his lips over Neyla's as she had stopped flailing on the floor and attempting to break her wrists free from his grip. The tigress had gasped softly into the kiss, but relaxed as she closed her eyes...and slowly kissed back.

 _'Sly...my Sly. He came for me...just like he promised. I knew he would.'_ The tigress mentally said to herself with tears slowly building in her eyes and sliding down her cheeks as her raccoon lover kept his promise to her.

 _'No! NO! This should NOT be possible! I had control of your mind!'_ The Contessa's voice screamed out, not believing or understanding how she lost control of the feline and before Neyla had finally broke free from her hypnotic hold!

 _'Shut up you ugly bitch and coward! I told you before, I will never, NEVER, turn against the man that I love or my friends! Now get out of my head!'_ Neyla shouted back, declaring that she would never betray her lover and friends and after giving one last mental push...had freed her mind from the spider's hold of her!

 _'Noooo!'_ The corrupt arachnid's voice shouted one final time before fading away, showing that the Contessa no longer had control over the tigress!

As the air for need became necessary, both Sly and Neyla had pulled away and she panted heavily, with her eyes closed as she had used her newly obtained strength provided by her raccoon to fight back against the programming. The raccoon held his unconscious tigress in his arms, hoping that she was alright along with Bentley as they could only imagine the anguish Neyla must've felt as she attempted to regain control of her mind from the Contessa's and Eyes hypnotic hold over her. After a short moment, her eyes slowly opened and to Sly's and Bentley's delight...they were normal and she took in light breathes to relax her body.

"S-S-Sly? B-B-Bentley?" Neyla asked as she looked up between her raccoon lover and turtle friend, as they smiled softly as their friend/teammate and more importantly, Sly's girlfriend was back.

"It's us Neyla. We're both here." The raccoon stated as he pulled his tigress into a loving hug, which she gladly accepted and returned.

"Oh god, Sly. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me." The tigress stated with remorseful eyes, as she had somehow remembered the blows she had landed on her lover and pleaded for his forgiveness.

"It's alright Neyla, it wasn't your fault. You had no idea what you were doing or control over your body. I'm just glad you're back." Sly replied, assuring his Neyla that he didn't blame her for the punches and kicks she threw/landed on him and was simply glad that she was back, while planting a loving kiss on her forehead.

After seeing that his fellow friend and teammate were alright and smiling teary-eyed at the sight of the raccoon and tigress embracing after she broke free from the Contessa's control, Bentley had approached the Mind Shuffler with the bad mojo bomb.

"Sly, you and Neyla might want to take cover. The bad mojo bomb might create a much bigger blast than anticipated!" The turtle stated while planting the bomb onto the Mind Shuffler and informing his raccoon friend that the explosion would be more bigger than he originally thought while setting the timer!

Once the bomb was placed on the Shuffler and timer was set, the three of them had took cover in separate corners of the room: Sly and Neyla swiftly knocked the weapons rack over to its side, using it to shield themselves from the explosion and Bentley had took cover behind the IronTech 250 as the bad mojo bomb had exploded! The moment the explosive detonated and Mind Shuffler had been destroyed, the Clockwerk Eyes had been dislodged from the panel and rolled across the rough stone floor.

"Bentley, are you alright?!" The raccoon called out, as he and Neyla tried to spot their turtle friend, but couldn't see him as red smoke had filled the room after the explosion!

"This is not the place for an asthmatic...but I've located one of the Clockwerk Eyes! Can you or Neyla find the other?" Bentley called out in return, telling his friend and leader that he found one of the Eyes and asked Sly if he or the tigress could find the other one!

"No need to worry turtle...its in safe hands." An all too familiar female voice called out...which belonged to none other than Carmelita!

"Carmelita?!" Sly, Bentley and Neyla cried out in shock, as they were surprised that the corrupt vixen had somehow followed them into the tower and glared angrily as she had the other Eye!

"I should thank you clowns for clearing out the Contessa, nothing I could've done would've lured that eight legged cow away from the Clockwerk Eyes." Carmelita stated in a cold and casual tone, thanking the three of them for getting rid of the spider; while completely unaware that it was really Jack who cleared out the Contessa and claiming that whatever she cooked up would've backfired.

"Ehh, one Eye should be enough for the old bird. After I kill you and that bitch Neyla, Cooper, I'll have the other one. Adios." The vixen stated coldly, claiming that she would steal their Eye after killing the raccoon and tigress before fleeing and running down the staircase!

"Neyla...can you stand?" Sly asked, wondering if his tigress was feeling alright to go after the corrupt vixen to recover the second Eye she had just stolen from them!

"I'm alright love. Let's go after that backstabbing bitch! It's time for some well deserved payback!" Neyla answered while glaring towards the vixen who just stole the second Eye and was **SO** looking forward to getting some well deserved revenge alongside her raccoon lover!

"You're damn right babe." The raccoon stated, smiling as he was waiting for this moment along side his tigress lover after India and the 'prison'.

"Bentley, you take the Eye and use the blimp to pick up Murray! Neyla and I are going after Carmelita!" He added while turning to his turtle friend, ordering him to protect both the Eye and Heart while he and his lover went after the corrupt vixen!

"Good luck you guys! Make sure that traitor gets what she deserves!" Bentley cried out, wishing both Sly and Neyla luck in catching up with Carmelita and hoping that they give her a good beating for all the pain she caused them after India!

Once he picked up the still functioning Eye, the turtle had climbed out of the tower through the balcony window and boarded the blimp.

 _~With Sly and Neyla~_

After running down the stairs to pursue Carmelita, the raccoon and tigress had chased the vixen out the front entrance to the re-education tower, which is where the true chase began!

"Attention all mercenary bombers, this is Inspector Fox speaking! Concentrate all fire power directly at the Contessa's blimp! Send it crashing into the river!" The vixen stated into her hand held radio, ordering her bomber planes to attack and destroy the blimp, with Bentley and two Clockwerk parts on board with him!

"Heads up Bentley, you're about to come under fire! Man the blimp's turret and stay sharp!" Sly stated, alerting his friend and tech support that Carmelita had ordered her mercenary pilots to attack the blimp and instructing him to use the blimp's turret guns to defend himself!

Once they exited the tower, Carmelita had set up a trampoline to send her upward into the air...which he and Neyla also used, as the three of them had paraglided through the air and above the castle grounds, which had became an all out battlefield! The raccoon and tigress had chased the corrupt vixen to the front courtyard, while also taking cover to evade the electric rounds from her shock pistol she had fired towards them. Sly and Neyla had continued chasing Carmelita as they jumped down the well, across the the docks and cemetery where she had deployed another trampoline and they sailed towards the area with the guillotine.

After they sprinted past the old execution device, Carmelita had deployed a third and final trampoline, which she, Sly and Neyla had used to sail upward to reach the walkways above the castle keep and the chase had ironically ended right where it started: the upper ledge leading to the tower! The tigress and raccoon had used the spider cobweb like trampoline to reach the upper ledge and to their complete amusement...they had spotted Carmelita tangled and pinned back against a tower wall in spider webbing and much to their delight, she had dropped the second Eye after being caught!

"You should really watch where you're going 'Inspector'. This castle is dangerous." Sly stated as he and Neyla chuckled at the sight of the corrupt vixen struggling to free herself from the wall and webbing!

"Don't either of you two bastards even think about it! That Eye belongs to me!" The vixen shouted angrily, warning both the raccoon and tigress to step away from the Eye and declaring ownership over it!

After her raccoon had picked up and recovered the Eye, Neyla had merely walked up to the trapped vixen whom glared dagger at her as she approached with the same look on her own face...and landed a powerful punch to Carmelita's face!

"That was for what you did to me and Sly back in India, bitch!" The tigress shouted with great ire towards her former 'partner' for coldly attacking them: wounding her raccoon lover as they attempted to rush Rajan and steal his half of the Heart and knocking them out after she defeated the spice dealer!

"This is for all the pain you put us through after handing us over to that cold blooded and sadistic bitch of a spider!" She added while performing and landing a powerful kick to her mid-stomach, which caused the trapped vixen to hunch forward after feeling the wind knocked out of her!

After seeing Carmelita hunched over in the pain from the kick his tigress had landed to stomach...Sly and Neyla turned to look at each other and nodded in agreement, as the same thought crossed their minds and pulled off several of the webbing surrounding the vixen.

"Hey! What are you two lowlife's doing?!" Carmelita demanded after coughing from the kick Neyla had landed to her stomach and noticing them removing several strands of webbing from the wall around her!

Instead of answering, the raccoon and tigress had forced the vixen to sit on the ground as they tied the webbing around her, trapping her in spider web like cocoon! The two lovers smirked and snickered as Carmelita had been thrashing and shouting at the top of her lungs, demanding to be released as she was completely immobilized!

"I'll kill you! Do you hear me Cooper?! I'll hunt you, your little bitch girlfriend and pathetic gang down and the four of you **are** dead!" The extremely pissed vixen shouted at the top of her lungs towards the raccoon and tigress, as they glared at both the insult she made towards Neyla and threat about killing Bentley and Murray alongside them!

As if having enough of the vixen's mouth, Sly and Neyla had landed a well timed simultaneous kick to Carmelita's face! The impact of their right/left leg connecting with her head had knocked the corrupt vixen out cold, especially after she had hit the back of head against the wall behind her.

"Masterfully well done Mr. Cooper. However...that Eye belongs to me." The Contessa stated as she had silently landed on the roof of the tower that Carmelita had been ensnared and witnessed every moment of the raccoon and tigress having their revenge against the vixen.

 _~Back with Bentley~_

Once he had boarded the blimp with the Eye, the turtle had received Sly's warning about the mercenary bombers attacking the aircraft and sat behind the computer console in the pilot house. Bentley had activated the blimp's front gun turrets and prepared himself for the mercenary airplane fighters, whom came at him from different directions all around above the castle grounds! He had used the computer's targeting system to assist him in aiming down the turrets sights, which made it easier for him to get a bead on the bombers, as he had gunned five so far!

 _'Okay. Five down and fifteen more to go.'_ The turtle mentally stated, knowing he still needed to defeat fifteen more mercenary planes and keeping an eye on how damaged the blimp was through the computer's automated damage meter reading 86%, which meant he was still alright and the vessel wasn't that damaged.

But battling the remaining fifteen mercenary pilots had proofed to be more difficult than expected, as they continued to blindside him and opened fire in only a few short bursts! However, Bentley had kept his cool and remained calm and waited patiently for the mercenary bombers to get in too close to him so he could take them down! After defeating five more bomber planes, the turtle couldn't help smirk as he soon realized the mercenaries that Interpol had hired weren't that experienced as he originally thought! After defeating the remaining ten bombers, he smiled as the skies were clear and piloted the blimp towards Murray's current position.

"Murray, do you read me? Over." Bentley stated over the radio, contacting his hippo friend and hoping that he was alright since the battle across the castle grounds started.

"I'm here little buddy. I hear ya." Murray answered back from the cockpit of the tank he commandeered and was clearing out a road behind the castle crowded with a small group on Wolf guards!

"I'm in the tank driving past the guillotine and small dock behind the castle keep." The hippo added after firing a single shot from the tank's turret that took all three useless canines out and drove past the small area with the guillotine towards the dock.

"I see you big guy. I'm going to land on the water so you can board." The turtle replied back, as he had spotted the tank his hippo friend was driving and slowly descended onto the river and kept the engine burning so they could take off right way.

Once his turtle friend had landed above the river, Murray had exited the tank, boarded the blimp and stepped inside the pilothouse as they ascended back into the sky before either the Contessa's or Carmelita's and Jack's mercenary tanks could shoot them.

"We did it Murray, we did it! We have the 2nd half of the Heart and 1st Eye!" Bentley stated as he cried out in happiness, as the heist and more importantly...their rescue plan had gone off perfectly, despite the fact that Carmelita had escaped with the 2nd Eye.

"I can't believe it Bent. We have the 2nd half of the Heart back!" The hippo cried out as he and his friend had high-fived each each, both of them pleased they finally recovered Rajan's half of the Clockwerk Heart from the Contessa!

"Now it's all up to Sly and Neyla to retrieve the other Eye." The turtle stated as he had the blimp circle around the castle, hoping he and Murray could spot their friends as the battle between the corrupt spider's and vixen's tank forces was about to come an end.

 _~Back with Sly and Neyla~_

"That Eye belongs to me and I want it back!" The Contessa demanded in an intimidating manner, showing she was in no mood to be asking the same thing twice!

"Never going to happen. I saw how you used the Eyes to turn Neyla against me and my friends and there's no way I'm going to let you do that to somebody else!" The raccoon countered, refusing to let the corrupt and demented arachnid use the Eyes to torture and brainwash another innocent soul just like his tigress!

"Sly and I have been waiting for this. Now it's your turn to be crying out in pain Contessa!" Neyla stated after her raccoon lover, as they both had indeed been waiting for this moment to have their revenge against the spider who tortured them with inhumane methods in order to break them, both physically and mentally.

"He he he, just because you and your little girlfriend are fighting doesn't mean you have the advantage against me Cooper." The spider stated with a smug sneer on her face, suggesting she had plenty of tricks up her sleeve to use against them.

"Your little mind games won't work on me Contessa! You no longer have any control over my mind!" The tigress stated, pointing out that she was free from the arachnid's hypnotic hold over her and that the Contessa knew this as well.

"...You're correct Neyla. I no longer have any control over your mind...but that doesn't really matter. For I intend to savor every moment of beating you and your boyfriend before I pry it from his cold lifeless hands!" The arachnid stated plainly, admitting that she indeed no longer had any control over Neyla...and coldly stated how she would rather face them herself and walk away with the Eye after killing the tigress and her raccoon lover!

Both Sly and Neyla had glared as they prepared themselves as the Contessa had charged in, swinging her claws like razor sharp blades and dodged by side stepping to the left/right! Before the spider could turn her back and charge in again, the raccoon had landed two powerful blows from his cane but was met by a powerful swing from the Contessa's left claw to his lower jaw, which sent him staggering two steps back! Just before the spider could charge in and tackle the slightly dazed raccoon...Neyla had lassoed her whip around her neck and with a sharp tug, spun the Contessa around like a top!

The arachnid had screamed as she was caught off guard from the tigress's last minute sneak attack to protect her raccoon...and glared angrily as she charged in after the dizziness had passed! But before she could even lay a claw on Neyla, the Contessa had cried out in pain as Sly had recovered from her previous blow and landed a charged up spin attack; striking three times to her back! The spider glared angrily, as she had fired a string of webbing around Neyla's legs and pulled back hard, causing her cry out in surprise before the Contessa had threw her towards Sly and he was just as surprised after the arachnid threw her in his direction! The two lovers had cried and groaned in pain, as they were caught off guard by the Contessa's last minute sneak attack and they swiftly countered by repeating their double teaming method; one of them facing the spider head on while the other sneaked attack at the last second.

The fight between the raccoon, tigress and spider had been a back and forth battle, as neither of them had refused to be defeated that easily. But fortunately and thankfully due to their teamwork, Sly and Neyla had defeated the much hated 'woman' with one final tag team assault: after the tigress had lassoed her whip around the Contessa's waist and spun her around with a sharp tug of her wrist, the raccoon had ended their battle with one final charged up spin attack from his cane!

"Enough Cooper...you and Neyla have shown me the error of my ways." The spider stated as she had collapsed onto her back...while secreting faking her 'defeat' to both the raccoon and tigress.

"Don't trust her Sly. She's just simply waiting for us to drop our guard." Neyla stated as she warned her raccoon lover, since she knew that their battle against the arachnid was almost too easy.

Thankfully, before the Contessa could even try to attack both Sly and Neyla as they had cautiously approached her...two electrified shock blasts had struck the cowardly spider from behind! Both the raccoon and tigress were surprised as someone had fired at the arachnid...and they both smiled as they saw who it was!

"Hey Contessa!" A familiar male voice called and the spider's eyes widened in shock...as she slowly turned to see an all familiar wolf detective running towards her across the bridge from her re-education tower!

"Consider yourself fired and under arrest!" Jack shouted as he performed a cartwheel and landed a powerful downward kick that connected to the top of her head and slammed her down onto the floor, out cold!

"Jack...that was your voice I heard earlier." Neyla cried out, while smiling at her old friend and former training partner from her rookie days in Interpol!

"Hey Neyla. I'm glad to see that you're back to your normal self." Howlett stated, smiling at the sight of his old partner and they embraced in a rather friendly hug while Sly watched with a small smile at the sight of the two former partners having a small reunion.

"Neyla, you and Sly need to get out of here before Inspector Fox wakes up." He added while gesturing to the still unconscious vixen and asked both the tigress and raccoon to leave with the Eye before Carmelita regained consciousness.

"But what about you?" Sly asked with concern towards the wolf detective, as he and his lover were worried about how Jack would explain to Barkley about them getting away.

"You and your friends don't need to worry about me Cooper. I'll tell Barkley a story he's sure to believe." Howlett answered, assuring both the raccoon and tigress that he wouldn't sell them out and how'd he cook up a story that his ill tempered boss would surely buy.

"Now go, please. Get out of here while you still can." Jack stated softly, pleading with them both to leave and they did just that with the 2nd Clockwerk Eye.

"Sly, Neyla! Over here!" Murray cried out, as he and Bentley had spotted Howlett running back towards the re-education tower and they both knew the only reason he'd be heading back to the tower was if the Contessa had returned there as well...which she obviously did.

Once the blimp had parked near the bridge leading to the tower, Sly and Neyla had boarded the aircraft and were embraced separately by their hippo friend and they hugged him back.

"Welcome back Neyla!" The hippo cried out happily at the sight of his feline friend and glad that she was alright and she smiled back at her two friends and teammates.

"Thank you Murray, You and Bentley have no idea how happy I am to see you chaps as well." Neyla stated, as she had missed both her hippo and turtle friends just as much as she missed her raccoon lover.

Bentley had piloted the blimp away from the castle and back towards their hideout. Once they had landed the blimp by the cafe outside their hideout, Murray had collected the 2nd half of the Heart from the safe he, Sly and Neyla had exited the pilothouse and placed all three Clockwerk parts in the back of the team van. While his friends had jumped off the blimp with the Heart and Eyes, Bentley had placed a number of bombs to destroy the aircraft so it would never be used by anyone else ever again!

After the last explosive was set, the turtle had exited the pilothouse, jumped inside in the van and buckled up along with Sly and Neyla as Murray had drove off at high speed, but not before pressing down on the trigger! The raccoon and his team smiled as the bombs Bentley had planted over the blimp had destroyed the aircraft and a huge explosion erupted! Murray glanced through the rear-view mirror and smiled as both Sly and Neyla had rested up in the back of the van, with the tigress resting her head underneath the croon of the raccoon's neck and him holding her close as they continued to drive out of Prague.

 _~Back with Jack~_

Once Sly, Neyla, Murray and Bentley had escaped on the blimp, he immediately handcuffed the knocked out Contessa by placing handcuffs around her wrists and shackles around the ankles of her legs. The wolf detective had then reluctantly approached Carmelita, whom was also still unconscious from Sly and Neyla kicking her directly in her face...and couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of her being wrapped in a cocoon of spider webbing!

"Hey, rise and shine Inspector Fox." Jack stated as he casually slapped the knocked out vixen softly with the back of his hand and that was enough to bring her back to consciousness.

"Hey...what? Howlett? Wha...how did?" Carmelita asked as she was completely surprised to see her temporary 'partner' kneeling beside while pulling out a pocket knife and releasing her from her spider web like 'restraints'!

"Where did Cooper and Neyla go?!" She demanded as she soon remembered that she was being chased by the raccoon and his tigress girlfriend/lover to the point when she was caught by the spider webbing and how both Sly and Neyla had finally gotten their revenge against her!

"I was chasing after the Contessa until she gave me the slip. I figured she had double backed to the tower and my hunch was right. I never saw Cooper, his gang or Neyla by the time I got here." Howlett answered while telling the truth about chasing after the spider...and lied about how he actually helped Sly and Neyla take down the Contessa and allowing them, Murray and Bentley to escape with the Eyes and second half of the Heart.

"Aargh! That damn ring tailed bastard and his bitch girlfriend!" The corrupt vixen shouted out after being freed from her 'restraints' and angrily turned away, as both Sly and Neyla had humiliated for the last and final time by trapping her in that 'cocoon' and kicking her right in her face!

"If it's any consolation prize...Barkley might reward you greatly for turning in the Contessa." Jack stated while reminding the vixen that Chief Barkley would reward them both, especially her for arresting the corrupt arachnid; whom was also slowly coming to.

"...Yeah. I...suppose you're right." Carmelita stated in a monotone voice, as she knew that the wolf detective was right about the possibility of their badger boss promoting her for bringing in the spider who betrayed and disgraced Interpol.

 _'I will find you and your bitch tigress Cooper. And when I find the two of you...I'm going to kill you both, along with the rest of your gang!'_ She mentally said to herself, vowing to have her revenge against Sly, Neyla and the rest of their team, no matter what!

After Jack had called it in, their mercenary forces had ceased their attack as the battle to capture the arachnid was a success. Shortly after escorting a fully chained and handcuffed across the bridge to the small village, another team of Interpol agents had arrived with a prisoner transport van and two officers assisted Howlett with placing a now struggling Contessa into the back of the van. As both Carmelita and Howlett witnessed the spider being loaded into the van, a fellow Interpol officer had offered the vixen a new badge, that held the rank of Captain as a gift from Inspector Barkley for bringing the corrupt and disgraced arachnid to justice.

 **A/N: There it is everyone, the ending to Operation: High Road! I would like to deeply apologize to my viewers for the insanely long delay. I had meant to have it posted last weekend, but I was wrapped up in a lot of personal stuff, hectic work shifts at my job, spending quality time with parents; especially since yesterday was birthday and doing chores around the house. The He Who Tames the Iron Horse chapter will be posted up real soon. But before then, I'll be working on a new fanfic project as a favor and gift to my good friend and fellow author WolveHulk. Until next time, bye.**


	18. Laying Low and Night to Remember

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any its characters except my for my OC character**

 **A/N: Hello everyone, here is the next chapter where Sly and his team lay low after escaping from the Contessa's castle. Jack will be receiving shocking news from his boss, Chief Barkley that will be bad news for the Cooper Gang. Plus...after a rather romantic reunion with his tigress, Sly and Neyla share a rather intimate together.**

 **I know in the previous chapter, I said this would be the first half to He Who Tames the Iron Horse, but I decided to publish it after this one.**

 **Warning: Rated M for lemon scene!**

 **Reviews and comments will be appreciated**

 **Chapter 18: Laying Low, Troubling News and Night to Remember**

It had been an entire day after escaping from the Contessa's castle and slipping through Carmelita's fingers with the Clockwerk Eyes, second half of the Heart and more importantly...Neyla. Sly and his team had taken refuge in the town of Pisek, which was 69 miles south of Prague. Despite making a clean getaway, the raccoon and his friends spotted numerous mercenary bi-planes flying overhead which only meant one thing: Carmelita had sent search parties to locate and arrest them. Fortunately for them, Sly, Murray and Bentley had become masters of disguise and always had stowed the perfect clothing they needed to blend in with the crowd.

After finding a suitable hotel to lay low for a few days, the Cooper Gang had checked into the Hotel Biograf under the perfect disguises: Sly dressed as a wealthy gentleman, Neyla as his wealthy girlfriend, Murray as a trucker and Bentley dressed and acting like a blind man with a walking cane to help get around. The raccoon had took care of the necessary arrangements, checking them under the name Mr. Copper and handing the desk clerk a leather sack filled with five hundred coins, which the clerk gladly accepted and handed Sly their room keys.

After receiving the keys to their separate hotel rooms, the raccoon and his friends exited the lobby, they stepped inside an elevator and went up to the 3rd floor. After reaching the 3rd floor and exiting the elevator, Sly handed Bentley and Murray the key to their hotel room Suite #302 while he and Neyla would be staying in Suite #307. Once the coast was clear, the four of them ended their charade.

"Whew, I can't believe we actually found someplace for us to lay low." Bentley stated while giving a soft sigh of relief, as he discarded the walking cane and Murray had removed his trucker hat.

"Yeah. For a while, I didn't think we'd be able to avoid those mercenary bi-planes." The hippo stated, glad that he and his friend's were lucky to avoid being spotted by Carmelita's mercenary pilots searching for them in the air.

"But how long are we going to stay here, though? Even though we made it out of Prague, doesn't mean that treacherous bitch, Carmelita is going stop searching for us." Neyla stated, while bringing up a rather important fact and question: how long would they stay at the hotel until it was safe for them to go after the rest of the Clockwerk Parts?

"Right now, it's too dangerous and risky for us to keep moving. Even though we've evaded her mercenary planes, Carmelita and Interpol will post our faces in multiple cities all over the world and offer up a huge reward to have us arrested." Sly stated, agreeing with his tigress that they couldn't stay at the hotel forever but also reminded his friends and lover that they couldn't risk keep traveling, as Interpol would post a bounty on their heads that would encourage people to turn them in to the local police in whatever city they passed through.

"Let's just give it a few days and when the heats cools down, we leave." He added, while suggesting to his team that they keep a low profile for a few days, which Bentley, Murray and Neyla completely agreed with.

"Well, Murray and I are going to try to catch up on some rest." His turtle friend stated, as he and Murray were exhausted from the heated battle back at the castle in order to rescue Neyla, stealing back the 2nd half of the Heart and obtaining the Eyes.

"Alright." Sly and Neyla stated, showing they understood how the turtle and hippo needed some rest, as they were exhausted after everything they went through back at the castle as well: the tigress being tortured and hypnotized by the Eye's evil gaze and influence, how she attacked her raccoon lover as he attempted to help her break free from the Contessa's hold over, how Carmelita stole one of the Eyes and how the raccoon and tigress chase after her and stole the Eye back...along with getting their well deserved revenge against the corrupt vixen and arachnid.

Once Bentley and Murray had stepped into their suite, the raccoon and his tigress had walked down the hallway and stepped inside their hotel room.

"I can't believe we actually escaped from that demented spider's castle." Neyla stated softly as she and Sly sat on the single king size bed in their hotel room.

"You and me both, babe. But it was completely worth it, because we were able to steal back Rajan's half of the Heart and Eyes from that cold-blooded arachnid." Her raccoon stated softly, agreeing with her that it was a miracle they had managed to escape Prague but the rewards made up for it: rescuing her and claiming both the second portion of the Heart and Eyes from the Contessa...along with getting their well deserved payback against Carmelita and the spider.

"I just hope that Jack is alright after we left the castle..." She added softly, hoping that her friend and former training partner was alright after she and her team fled the castle with the Eyes and Heart.

"I'm sure that he's alright Neyla. Bentley and I saw for ourselves that Jack can handle his own in a fight." Sly stated, reassuring his tigress that Howlett was probably indeed alright after seeing what a skilled fighter the wolf detective was back on the blimp with Bentley.

"Sly...you have no idea how much I missed you while we were separated after our capture back in India." The tigress stated softly, with a soft smile on her face as she leaned in against her raccoon lover.

"I missed you so much too Neyla: after I escaped and was reunited with the guys and how we tried to rescue you before the Contessa moved you to the Contessa...and failed." The raccoon stated softly, feeling the same way as his tigress after being captured by Carmelita and the Contessa and the past two days as he, Bentley and Murray prepared for the heist/rescue plan on the castle.

"You, Murray and Bentley did everything you could, Ringtail." Neyla stated as she placed a gentle hand to her raccoon's face to cup his cheek and reminded him that he and their friends did everything they could to rescue her back at the 'prison'.

"Neyla...how about you and I have a date tonight here at the hotel in the banquet lounge?" Sly asked, offering to treat his tigress to a romantic date in the hotel banquet room later tonight.

"Sly...I'd love to go on a date with you tonight." His tigress lover stated with a gentle smile as they leaned in and shared a rather heated loving kiss. Once they pulled away to breath, Neyla and her raccoon smiled at each other as they laid back on the bed and were looking forward to their date later tonight.

 _~Meanwhile at Interpol HQ, France~_

After the raid on the Contessa's estate and capture of the disgraced warden/secret Klaww Gang member, the newly promoted Captain Carmelita Fox and her 'partner' Jack Howlett had returned from Prague. The entire office floor applauded both the vixen and wolf for capturing the corrupt arachnid, while others simply glared hatefully at the Contessa, since she manipulated them all from day one and she simply glared back at her former 'colleagues' and 'superior' as Barkley had exited his office. Both Carmelita and Howlett had walked up to their superior officer and saluted, which he instinctively returned.

"Good job Carmelita. You as well Jack. I'm proud that the two of you were able to bring in the Contessa alive, together." Chief Barkley stated after he congratulated the vixen and wolf for working together to arrest the disgraced arachnid...which wasn't what really happened.

"Well, she did give me and Fox bit of a chase and hell of a fight Chief. But we were able to subdue and arrest her." Jack answered, lying how he and the dirty vixen had 'worked together' to 'arrest' the Contessa and how it was really Sly and Neyla who faced and defeated her.

"Carmelita...is there something you'd like to add?" Their badger boss asked, as he noticed the puzzled look on the vixen's face as Howlett stated they both 'worked together' to 'defeat' and 'arrest' the disgraced spider.

"Uh...no, Chief. There's nothing I'd like to add at the moment. But...there is something I'd like to discuss with you in private, if that's alright." Carmelita stated, as she was caught off guard by the wolf detective lying to Barkley...as both Sly and Neyla had knocked her unconscious and tied her up in spider webbing and could tell that he was covering for somebody else, not her.

"Yes, of course. In my office. Jack could you give us a moment?" Barkley asked, as he had a good guess to what the newly promoted vixen wished to discuss.

"Sure thing Chief. I'll get to typing up the field report." Howlett stated, as he also suspected what it was his 'partner' needed to discuss with their superior officer and sat behind an his temporary desk to type up the arrest report.

"Yes...do that, 'partner'." Carmelita stated in a mild, yet dark tone showing she really didn't care what he would be doing she and their boss spoke in his office and earned a glare from the wolf in return.

After she and Barkley stepped into his office and closed the door behind them, the badger sat in his chair behind his desk while the vixen sat in the chair in front.

"Do you have a problem with Detective Howlett, Captain?" Her chief and boss asked in firm tone, as he immediately knew the reason Carmelita asked for them to talk in his office was to find an excuse to no longer be partnered with Jack.

"As a matter of fact, I do Chief Barkley. Howlett had been completely uncooperative before we launched our strike on the Contessa's castle to arrest her. He had no respect for my seniority, making decisions behind my back without discussing it with me first and he actually had the nerve to give me the finger!" The vixen answered while lying through her teeth, informing the badger how Jack had 'refused' to help form a 'plan of attack' on the castle, not having any 'respect' for 'her' being the senor Inspector in charge of their mercenaries and flipping her bird after turning his back on her!

"That's complete bullshit!" Barkley shouted with great ire in his voice that it nearly made Carmelita fall backwards in her chair and earned a shocked look from the other detectives outside the office, especially Jack as he was about to type up his field report!

"Jack Howlett is our top operative in the Fugitive Recovery Unit! Not once in his entire career that man had disrespected or insulted any of his fellow colleagues or superiors! Do you have any proof to support your accusation?" He added, showing he didn't believe a single word that left the vixen's mouth as he defended Jack by mentioning his service record: how the wolf detective was a true and loyal cop dedicated to upholding the law and demanded to see any proof that confirmed her accusation!

"...No, I don't." Carmelita stated softly, as she knew that she crossed a huge line by trying to ruin Howlett's reputation as a cop.

"I didn't think so." The ill tempered badger stated in calm yet angry tone, along with a look of disgust that the newly promoted vixen had the nerve to try to ruin Howlett's career simply because she didn't like him!

"Chief, I know that I have no right to try end a fellow cop's career, I just simply prefer working alone." She simply stated while 'apologizing' for her unacceptable behavior towards the wolf detective and begged to work alone without a partner.

"Normally Carmelita, I would deny your request...but since you and Howlett did work together to arrest and capture the Contessa, I'm willing to grant it." Barkley stated after hearing and learning the main reason why the vixen tried to damage Jack's rep as a cop: she merely wished to work alone like she used to and decided to grant her request.

"Really?" Carmelita asked, with a small smile since she would no longer have to be partnered with the wolf detective!

"Indeed. Since its pretty obvious that you can't seem to play well with others and how Jack feel's the same towards you, the both of you are no longer partners." Her badger boss stated, since he knew that both the vixen and wolf detective's would never get along with each and how he'd be wasting time telling them to make it work.

"Oh, thank you Chief Barkley!" She cried out happily as she no longer had to work with Jack...and how she could hunt down Sly, Neyla and their and kill them for humiliating her back at the castle without him getting in the way!

From outside the office, Jack had heard his 'partner' shouting in glee and he didn't even have to guess what it was about: him.

"So...that bitch and I are no longer partner's and that's fine with me." Howlett muttered softly, as he could tell by the way the vixen was shouting that Barkley granted her wish that they no longer worked together as he continued typing.

 _'But I need to warn Neyla and Cooper, let them know that Fox will be coming after them all by herself.'_ He mentally said to himself, knowing that he had to discreetly warn Sly, his team and Neyla about the corrupt vixen coming after them as soon as his report was nearly finished.

After hearing the door to Barkley's office open, Jack had glanced up from the computer screen and noticed Carmelita walk by, with a smug smirk on her face and mouthing the words 'screw you' and he simply glared back while mouthing the words 'Go to Hell' before turning around as the chief called out his name.

"Jack...a word with you, son?" The badger calmly asked, as he needed to hear what really happened in Prague from him.

"Sure thing, Chief." The wolf detective answered as he pulled himself away from the desk and stepped inside his boss's office with Barkley closing the door behind him.

"So...I assume this is about what you and Fox talked about?" Howlett stated as he had a gut instinct that the reason his chief asked him into his office was whatever complaint Carmelita made against him.

"Actually...it is. She stated that you had been completely uncooperative during your time in Prague, belittling her rank and disrespectful towards her seniority." Barkley answered softly while confirming his suspicions, informing the wolf detective that the vixen stated how he had been 'uncooperative' back in Prague and 'disrespectful' towards Carmelita's seniority as the lead operative in charge of their operation.

"What? That's a complete crock, Chief! If anything, Fox was the one being completely disrespectful towards me and acted like a complete bitch during our time in Prague!" Jack stated, shocked and enraged that Carmelita actually had the nerve to lie to Barkley's face and claim that he had been acting unprofessionally before they launched 'their' strike on the Contessa's castle!

"I know that what Carmelita told me was untrue Jack, but I need to hear to from your side of what really happened back in Prague." The badger stated calmly, assuring Howlett that he didn't believe Carmelita's bullshit lie and simply needed to hear from him, along with proof on what really happened prior before the attack on the castle.

"Chief Barkley...would you really like to know how Captain Fox and I interacted before we captured the Contessa?" The wolf detective asked, as he reached inside his vest jacket and pulled out micro-cassette voice tape recorder that he had concealed the entire time back in Prague.

"Indeed I do." Barkley answered with a firm nod that instructed Jack to play whatever he had recorded on the tape recorder.

"This is the night when Fox had decided to bring in the bi-plane bombers into the fray." Howlett stated, revealing that he had secretly taped the words exchanged between him and Carmelita after Sly had dropped down the film canister full of ghosts down the chimney of the old bank they had used as their temporary base of operations.

 _"So the Contessa wants war, huh? Will two can play this game."_ Carmelita's voice stated and Jack remembered the startled look the vixen had on her face after they witnessed the ghosts moaning and passing through the walls of their temporary HQ.

 _"It's high time that old witch learns that combat is a contact sport. A few bombers should put that old hag in her place."_ The vixen stated, as that was when she had decided to bring in the mercenaries bombers for the upcoming assault on the castle itself!

 _"Don't you think hiring pilots this early might be a bit...premature?"_ Howlett's recorded voice asked and Barkley couldn't help but mentally agree with him about the mercenaries bombers and quickly realized that Carmelita had made the decision about hiring the bombers all on her own without discussing it with Jack first!

 _"Let me make something clear right now Howlett: I'm the senior Inspector in charge of this operation, you're just here as a courtesy to Barkley. I call the shots, not you! Are we clear?"_ Carmelita shouted and demanded in a very angry voice that shocked the badger, as he had never once sensed that much hostility in the vixen's voice before, but quickly grew an angered look on his face as well, since this tape was proof that contradicted what she claimed when they had spoken before!

 _"Yeah...I hear you, 'boss lady'."_ Jack had answered back acidly and he slyly smirked...as the memory of what he did as he walked away from the corrupt vixen swiftly played back through his mind.

 _"Where do you think you're going?"_ The vixen demanded as he turned his back and walked away from her, while bringing his right hand up and raised only the middle finger.

 _"I'm going to scout around the castle grounds, see if there's a way to sneak in undetected...'partner'."_ The wolf detective answered while giving the corrupt vixen the finger, which in turn infuriated Carmelita greatly and he smirked himself as it felt good flipping the corrupt bitch the bird.

"Jack...thank you for showing me this tape recorder, for this discredits Carmelita's accusation against you. I never had any reason to doubt you, son." Barkley stated while thanking Howlett for providing him with the evidence he needed to discredit the vixen's lie against him and reassured the wolf detective he never doubted his sense of loyalty as a cop.

"Thank you Chief Barkley...and thanks for not having me partnered with Fox anymore." Jack answered, thanking his boss for never doubting his loyalties to the force as an Interpol agent and ending his 'partnership' with Carmelita, so he could work alone just like he did before in the F.R.U.

"You're welcome Detective. Dismissed." His badger boss stated as they shook hands and saluted each other, as Howlett had exited his office and sat back down behind his assigned desk. After his field report was finished, Jack had put together an encrypted email message that would hopefully be sent to Bentley's personal computer.

 _'To the Cooper Gang, both Detective Howlett and the newly promoted Captain Carmelita Fox are no longer working together as partners. She will be coming after you as you go after the rest of the Clockwerk Parts and last remaining members of the Klaww Gang and there will be nothing I can do to assist you. If you ever need help, my door is always open. Good luck. ~From a friend'_ Howlett had typed while making sure none of the other detectives were walking by his desk as he finished the email and sent it before logging off and headed for a coffee break in the break room lounge.

 _'Good luck Sly...you, Neyla and your friends are going to need it.'_ He mentally stated to himself, while secretly hoping that the raccoon and his team would receive his email warning them about Carmelita.

 _~Back at the Hotel Biograf, near midnight~_

Sly and Neyla were in their hotel suite getting dressed for their dinner date in the banquet room. The raccoon had slipped on his gentleman's tuxedo while his tigress had worn the same dancing attire she wore during her undercover assignment in Rajan's palace ballroom and her previous dinner date with her raccoon lover at the hotel in Bollywood. Neither of them complained, as those were the only suitable clothing they both owned for going on dates and made them blend in perfectly for the wealthy/classy crowd.

"Ready to go into the banquet room, my beautiful tigress?" Sly asked, while acting like a complete gentleman and offering a hand to his tigress lover, which she naturally accepted.

"Of course, my handsome raccoon." Neyla answered as they intertwined their fingers fingers together and stepped out of their hotel room down to the elevator and down to the main lobby, where the banquet room was.

After being greeted by the waiter and requesting a table for two, the waiter had escorted Sly and Neyla to a table in the center of the room and to their rather complete surprise, they were the only ones dining in, which meant they had the banquet room all to themselves. Once the raccoon and his tigress had sat down behind their table, the waiter had provided the two lovers with a menu template for them to go over the food/beverage selections and he would serve them personally as they were the only customers for the night. After going over the template thoroughly, Sly had ordered a Yellowfin tuna steak with a ratatouille vegetable side dish and Neyla asked for a veal tenderloin steak covered in creamy mushroom sauce and two slices of Sacher cake with whipped cream for desert.

"Sly...can I ask you something?" Neyla asked softly as they waited for the server to deliver the food to their table.

"Of course Neyla." The raccoon answered, as he had a good idea to what his feline lover wanted to ask him.

"Could you tell me what I missed why we were separated? What you and the chaps did in order to save me back at the prison and castle?" The tigress asked, as she was curious to what courageous feats her raccoon, Murray and Bentley did to prepare for their rescue missions back at the Contessa's 'prison' and castle estate.

"Of course my beautiful tigress. Where would you like me to start?" Sly stated, as he understood that his lover was curious about the field jobs they needed to accomplish before they attempted to save her back at the prison and castle.

"I suppose...after Bentley and Murray made it possible for you to escape Ringtail." She answered honestly, as she was curious on what had happened outside the prison after the hippo and turtle freed her raccoon lover.

"After Bentley and Murray had busted me out from the 'Hole' and I met with them at the hideout, Bentley had gave me and Murray a number of assignments to carry out before we had attempted to rescue you from the prison: having you battle the other inmates in order to get moved to solitary confinement, Murray protecting Bentley as he planted bombs to severe the power supply to the prison security system, having me shadow the Contessa in order to steal keys to one her tanks and a patrol schedule, collecting security codes in order for him to put together hacking software to help save you and...disabling the Contessa's giant attack robot." The raccoon answered, revealing everything he and their friends did in order to prepare to rescue her back at the prison while Neyla listened with a look of surprise and admiration.

"Did you just say, 'giant attack robot'?" Neyla asked, wondering if she had heard her raccoon right!

"Yeah, I know...I was skeptical as well...until I saw it with my own eyes. The Contessa had built a giant robot to resemble an actual water tower." Sly muttered softly, admitting that he was skeptical about a 'water tower' being a threat to their rescue operation...until he saw the 'tower' move with his own two eyes!

"After we failed to rescue you back at the prison and followed the Contessa to her castle estate, that was when the guys and I prepared for another rescue attempt. Bentley had me capture ghosts and drop them down the chimney of Carmelita's and Jack's temporary HQ, he found and powered up the bad mojo bomb we needed to rescue you and steal the Eyes and Murray captured the Contessa's head of castle security." He added, revealing to his tigress about the first set of assignments he, Bentley and Murray carried out to prepare for their attack on the corrupt arachnid's castle estate.

"Sly...is there something else on your mind?" The tigress asked, as she noticed the upset look slowly appearing on his face.

"After the guys and I had set up our safe house, Bentley sent me to take some recon photos, outside/around the castle grounds and inside the 're-education' tower. And when I climbed through the window...that was when I saw you strapped down to that IronTech 250, being forced to gaze back into the Eye's." Sly answered, revealing that he had climbed up the tower's rear balcony and entered the room where the Contessa was trying to hypnotize her.

I...I wanted to save you right then and there...but Bentley stopped me, reminding me that our only chance of rescuing you was by doing it together as a team." The raccoon added, revealing that after he had taken the necessary recon photo's he headed back to the hide out...and felt incredibly guilty for simply leaving his tigress to be hypnotized when he had the chance to rescue her.

"Sly...you did the right thing by listening to Bentley. If you had attempted to save me on your own...the Contessa and her Shadow Guard would've overpowered and defeated you, strapping you down to a rack beside me." Neyla stated softly, assuring her raccoon that he made the right call by listening to their turtle friend and pointing out that if he had tried to rescue her himself, the corrupt spider and her elite Vulture guards would've defeated and strapped him down to a torture rack to be hypnotized as well.

"...Neyla, there's something I need to ask you." Sly asked softy as he, Murray and Bentley had feared the possibility back at the prison and castle estate.

"...If the Contessa or her flunkies tried to force any information out of me?" She asked softly, as if knowing what was on her boyfriend and lover's mind.

"Yeah...and if you don't want to talk about it, we don't have to talk about." He added softy, offering his tigress comfort that she didn't have to tell him, especially if she wasn't ready quite yet.

"That's the thing Sly...the Contessa, she never asked me any questions when I was her prisoner." Neyla stated softly while glancing downward, revealing that the corrupt arachnid never once asked her a single question while she fighting the Eye's hypnotic gaze.

"That demented, sadistic bitch...she's just lucky that we allowed Howlett to arrest her." Sly muttered softly, angered that the corrupt spider simply tortured his tigress...but after seeing the video of the Contessa 'interrogating' Clive Thomas, he wasn't really surprised.

"You're right about that Ringtail, she is lucky that we let Jack arrest and send her to prison...when we could've killed her, but's not who we are." She stated softly, agreeing her raccoon that the Contessa was fortunate that they allowed Jack arrest her and even though they wanted to kill her...it wasn't in them to take another person's life.

"But what's important is that we're back together beautiful, and I'm never going to let anyone separate us ever again." The raccoon stated with a warm smile that he and his tigress were finally reunited and how he would never let anyone separate them ever again.

"Yeah...you're right handsome." Neyla stated smiling brightly, as she knew her raccoon lover was correct that they were finally together again after their capture in India and they intended to savor moment of their romantic dinner and night together.

That was when the waiter had returned to their table with a server and presenting/placing their food and dessert before them. After thanking the server and waiter for their services, they had enjoyed eating their dinner together alone. To the raccoon and tigress's surprise, as they ate their dinner the audio speakers were playing a rather romantic love song: I'll be the Flame performed by Cheap Trick. The two lovers smiled as they listened to every word in the song, especially the most romantic part which slowly caused tears to build behind the corners of Neyla's eyes:

 _Where ever you go, I'll be with you  
Whatever you want, I'll give it to you  
Whenever you need someone  
To lay your heart and head upon  
Remember. after the fire, after all the rain  
I will be the flame  
I will be the flame_

After Sly and Neyla had finished eating their dinner and desert, they had stood up from their table and walked to the center of the dance floor in the empty banquet room. The two lovers had danced hand in hand in complete sync as they listened to the romantic song, just as they did back Rajan's palace ballroom and the dance floor at the hotel in Bollywood. As they danced to the song, both the raccoon and tigress knew that tonight was the perfect night to show much they loved each other.

"Neyla...are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Sly asked as he held his tigress close to him, as the song was about to reach its end.

"Indeed I am, Ringtail. How about we finish this conversation...in private?" Neyla stated, admitting she indeed had the same idea as her raccoon with a seductive tone in her voice.

"After you my beautiful tigress." He answered, smiling by the seductive nature he detected in his lover's voice and the two of them stepped into the elevator, went straight up to their hotel floor and bedroom suite...while locking the door behind them the hotel staff and their friends wouldn't interrupt them.

After locking the door behind, Sly and Neyla had wrapped their arms around each other in a loving embrace as they locked lips in burning passionate kiss. After pulling away to breathe, the had kissed again and again, as a deep sense of arousal and desire slowly started to build up inside them. As they pulled away to catch their breath from another heated kiss, the raccoon and tigress noticed their eyes darkening with desire.

"Sly?" Neyla asked in a soft and seductive tone, as she felt the heat radiating from her raccoon lover's body.

"Yes beautiful?" Sly asked smiling, as he knew what his feline lover was about to say.

"Bed." The feline stated plain and simple and gave a small cry of surprise as her raccoon swiftly snatched her off her feet, picking her up bridal style while walking towards the bed and laying her on the firm and soft mattress.

After climbing up the bed beside her, the raccoon and his tigress had lock lips in another heated kiss while pulling away to discard each other pieces of clothing: Sly removing his Neyla's dancing outfit, bra and underwear while the tigress removed his tuxedo jacket, bow tie, shirt, pants and boxer briefs. The two lovers had heavy blushes across their faces, as they had never seen the other undressed before...and Neyla eye balling her raccoon's 9 inch cock.

"...Impressive, Ringtail." The tigress stated in monotone voice, surprised and amused by how aroused her lover's member was as they made out and undressed each other.

"My God...you're so beautiful Neyla." Sly stated as he was amused and astonished by how beautiful his feline lover looked without any clothing as he gently shoved down onto her back.

The two lovers locked lips in a burning passionate kiss, with the raccoon placing gentle kisses down along her neck, which earned loving sighs from his tigress as he worked his way from her neck and down to her chest. Sly had then placed his mouth over his Neyla's left breast, which earned a soft gasp as she felt his tongue playfully flickering the nipple and sucking on the breast.

"Oh, Sly...that feels so good." She stated, sighing in arousal as her raccoon stimulated her left breast and then switched to the right breast.

After seeing and chuckling at how arousal and stimulated his tigress's breasts were, Sly moved up and locked lips with his lover in passionate kiss and they smiled lovingly at each other.

"May I?" The raccoon asked, wanting to make sure that he didn't overstep his boundaries, especially since this was their first night together.

"Go on ahead my love." Neyla answered, giving her lover permission and they smiled softly before locking lips in a tender kiss before Sly lowered himself down between her legs.

After lowering his mouth closer to the tender flesh, Sly had inserted his tongue in his tigress's soaking wet clit. Neyla had gasped and moaned in surprise as she felt her raccoon's tongue enter between her legs as her eye's rolled behind her head and fingers gripped the sheets. Sly had also moaned as he enjoyed every second of tasting his tigress lover's super sweet juices as he kissed/licked her labia and clit.

"Neyla...you taste so sweet." He stated softly, as he enjoyed the intoxicating scent and taste of her sweet fluids.

"Please Sly...More..." The tigress softly whispered, begging her raccoon lover to keep going as she felt her climax slowly approaching.

As if sensing that his feline lover was about to reach her climax, he more than happily obliged to his Neyla's request as he kissed and licked her vagina at a more harder pace and after a few short seconds, Sly had found her sweet spot. Neyla had gasped and moaned in complete ecstasy as her hips moved up and down on the mattress as she felt her raccoon's tongue licking her sweet spot with a more harder but steady rate until she could no longer hold the built up fluids anymore.

"Oh God, Sly! I'm going to...I'm gonna cum!" Neyla cried out as her climax reached its peak and released the fluids, which her raccoon had eager licked up until her body had relaxed from the truly magnificent experience.

After seeing that his tigress was still collecting herself from her climax, Sly had slowly and steadily climbed up her body, placing tender kisses up her waist and stomach, to her chest and neck up to her lips. Neyla had moaned into the kiss, as she could feel her own fluids on her raccoon lover's lips and as their tongues had wrapped around in a heated tango before pulling away to breathe.

"My turn Ringtail." The tigress stated plain and simple in a seductive voice, as she and her Sly smiled lovingly at each other before rolling them over, so she was now on top of him while he was laying on his back on the bed.

After immediately switching places with her raccoon, Neyla had lowered herself down as she stopped and was hovering directive above his erect member and without a single word...she had swiftly engulfed her lips around the cock.

"Ohhh! N-Neyla!" Sly stuttered with a mad blush on his face, as his tigress had immediately placed her lips around and sucked his 9 inch erected length! He had moaned in complete arousal as his lover had playfully bopped her head up and down as she had enjoyed the moment as well...and the raccoon had felt a huge surge of arousal/excitement building in his body.

"N-N-Neyla! I-I'I'm about to cum!" He cried out, informing and warning his feline lover that his climax was about to explode...and she welcomed the release, as she continued sucking his length until his cum had poured into her mouth and made sure she had licked up every drop.

After letting his body cool down from his climax, Sly had once again ruled them over so he was now on top of his Neyla...while positioning himself between her legs.

"Neyla...are you sure you want this? Because we can always wait..." The raccoon asked softly, needing to know if his tigress was sure about them consummating their relationship right now...especially as they were going after the rest of the Clockwerk Parts.

"I'm sure about this Ringtail and you don't have to worry about me getting pregnant. I'm on the pill." Neyla stated, showing she was 100% sure about having her raccoon lover cum inside her as she was on birth control pills, so they wouldn't have to worry about her becoming pregnant as they went after Jean Bison and Arpeggio.

"This is going to hurt Neyla...especially since this is our first time together. If you want me to stop, just let me know." Sly stated, nodding while smiling softly as his tigress was positive about wanting them to consummate their relationship while reminding his lover that this side of their love making would be painful and saying that if she wanted him to stop, he'd stop.

After climbing up to lock lips with his Neyla in searing passionate kiss to silence their fears and doubts, the raccoon had pushed his cock into her as gently as he could, but stared shocked as tears slowly started to build in her eyes and her teeth had clenched together. Feeling guilty for hurting his tigress, Sly was about to pull out before Neyla had gently placed her hands around his wrists.

"There's no need to worry love. This is normal for couples making love for the first time. It'll pass in a few minutes, just keep going." Neyla stated, reassuring her raccoon lover that the pain she was feeling was normal for inexperienced couples making love for the first time and how the pain would fade shortly.

Hearing those words helped Sly overcome his doubt and he proceeded to insert and pump his length in a slow and steady pace. Neyla had moaned softly, which slowly became louder as she felt her raccoon's member entering inside her and moved her hips in complete tempo with her lover's movements as he pumped his cock at the soft and steady pace he was going. As Sly continued pumping his cock between his feline lover's legs, Neyla had wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled him in close to lock lips in a deep burning and passionate kiss.

"Please Sly...faster...faster and harder my love." His tigress lover begged softly, as they both sensed their climax reaching their final peak and he smiled softly, which Neyla mirrored.

"As you wish babe." Sly answered, showing he was more than happy to oblige his lover as he pumped his length at a more harder and faster pace, which Neyla mimicked as she met his thrusts with her hips. After two short minutes had passed, both Sly and Neyla had moaned in complete unison as the tigress had felt her raccoon's seed enter inside her after the final thrust.

After their final climax, the two lovers had sighed in complete bliss. Neyla had pulled her raccoon in close as they embraced each other in their arms, as there was one last thing they needed to do before succumbing to the tiredness taking over them. Sly had sunk his teeth into the croon of his Neyla's neck, while the tigress did the same to her raccoon, marking him as hers as he marked her as his.

"So how was it?" Sly asked softly as he and Neyla pulled away from each other's necks and smiled lovingly at each other.

"It was magnificent, love." His tigress lover and mate answered, smiling at her one true love as they locked lips in deep kiss, which was their way of 'saying goodnight' as they wrapped the bed sheet over them and slept in complete content and bliss.

 **A/N: There it is everyone. I would like to apologize to my fellow fanfic authors and reviewers for the insanely huge delay for this chapter. The past two months have just been insane, I've been struggling with hectic work shifts at the hospital and spending quality time with my family and friends. The He Who Tames the Iron Horse episode will be posted some time during this weekend.**

 **P.S - For those who feel that the love making scene between Sly and Neyla lacks details and think I should make changes to make it better. Just let me know.**


	19. He Who Tames the Iron Horse Pt 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any of its characters, except my 0C**

 **A/N: Hello everyone, here is the chapter with the 1st half to the He Who Tames the Iron Horse episode as promised. The job missions will be the same with a few slight twists...along with a surprise gift that Bentley gives to Neyla.**

 **Reviews and comments will be appreciated**

 **Chapter 19: He Who Tames the Iron Horse, Pt. 1**

 _'Thanks to Bentley's non-stop computer work and Intel on the hard drive, we had trailed the source of spice shipments to Nunavut Bay, Canada: the secret hub of Jean Bison's shipping empire.'_ Sly stated in his mind as Bentley had spent two straight days on the ThiefNet computer in his and Murray's hotel room, going over the data of the Klaww Gang's spice shipment operation on the hard drive and how Jean Bison was operating in Canada.

After two days of laying low and not seeing any mercenary planes scouting the air or tanks on the main roads, the raccoon and his team knew that Interpol had called off the search parties in Prague and was safe for them to go after the remaining Clockwerk Parts. Once Sly and his team had checked out of the hotel, they drove straight to the nearest airport and thanks to the multiple passports that Bentley had made for them over the years, their fake ID's never raised any red flags to get them detained by airport security. The raccoon and his friends had also disguised themselves with the right clothing: Sly had changed into his gentleman's clothing, Neyla disguised as his girlfriend, Bentley had disguised himself as a free lance photographer and Murray had disguised himself as his assistant.

After flying for a day and a half, Sly and his friends had arrived in North America. Murray had been upset about leaving the team van back at the Czech Republic...but he quickly cheered up after Bentley revealed that he offered the owner of the airport back in Prague a bribe to have a second plane transport the van: offering the owner 10 rubies and 8 sapphires that Sly pick-pocketed off from the Contessa's idiot guards...which the owner more than gladly accepted as he felt he hit the jackpot with the beautiful red and yellow colored gems.

 _'According to his file, Bison had trekked across Canada as a young man to strike it rich during the Gold Rush at 1852 and after attempting to use explosives to blow the side of a mountain to locate gold...unfortunately ended up being buried alive in an avalanche.'_ Sly mentally stated, as Bison's personal file revealed and explained his origins: how the red furred bison had traveled to Canada during the Gold Rush in 1852 and ended up being frozen alive in an avalanche due to misusing dynamite to blow open the side of a mountain in order to locate and claim gold.

 _'Miraculously, the big freeze kept him alive and 120 years later, thanks to global warming, he thawed out.'_ The raccoon added as he, Bentley and Murray couldn't believe how anyone could remain alive after being frozen in a block of ice for 120 years, as any other person would be dead...while Bison had simply been in suspended animation and broke free from his icy prison due to global warming!

 _'A product of his time, he dreams of taming the 'Wild North': damming every river and chopping down every tree with progress delivered with the sharp end of an ax.'_ Sly added as according to Bison's psyche profile...the former miner had envisioned of turning Canada into his version of the Old West by damming every river and deforesting the woods in order to build the train tracks needed to transport the Klaww Gang's spice all over North America.

 _'Shipping spice for the Klaww Gang had proved to be a lucrative and beneficial way to bankroll his one-man 'war' against nature and yet for some strange reason...I feel a little sorry for him. He was just a typical and inexperienced miner from the 1850's. Back in his day, he would've been a hero...but today, he's a villain.'_ He mentally stated, feeling some little sympathy for Bison and his misguided hatred towards mother nature: if he had simply been more experienced, he never would've caused and been frozen in that avalanche and could've been considered a hero after discovering gold...but today, he was a criminal and member of the Klaww Gang.

 _'Either way, that man has more than his fair share of the Clockwerk Parts. What a low-tech guy like Jean Bison is doing with robot parts is a mystery. I almost don't even wanna now! But as usual...it's only a matter of time before I find out.'_ The raccoon stated with a determined to put an end to Bison's demented schemes with the Clockwerk Parts in his possession, but was also confused to why someone who was unfamiliar with high end technology could possibly want or accomplish with the parts he has...but knew he and his team would eventually find out.

 _'Thanks for us warning us about Carmelita and offering your help if we need it Jack. We really appreciate it.'_ Sly stated, as he thanked Howlett for sending him and his friends the email warning them about the newly promoted Captain Carmelita Fox coming after them before they packed up and left Pisek yesterday. Plus...he and Neyla had a small laugh after revealing to Bentley and Murray about their intimate night together!

 _~Flashback, yesterday at Hotel Biograf~_

 _While the raccoon and his tigress still slept as the sun started to rise, that was when the two lovers went through an all too familiar experience: as soft knocking was heard from outside their hotel room door!_

 _"Sly! Neyla! Are you guys still asleep?" Murray asked while knocking as softly as he could...and hoping he wasn't interrupting their private time together!_

 _"Not anymore. We'll be right there big guy!" His raccoon friend answered, as he and Neyla slowly woke up and smiled softly at each other...as they had enjoyed every moment of their first time together last night._

 _"Morning my beautiful tigress." Sly stated softly to his feline lover before leaning in for a good morning kiss._

 _"Morning my handsome Ringtail." His Neyla answered, as she smiled at her raccoon lover and leaned in as well, as their lips locked in a burning, passionate kiss before pulling away._

 _The two lovers had then immediately redressed themselves, slipping on their typical clothing, walked towards the locked door and unlocked it to see their hippo patiently waiting outside while leaning back on the right corridor._

 _"I'm sorry if I interrupted something your private time again you..." Murray stated softly, beginning to apologize for waking them up again just like before at the hotel in Bollywood...but was cut off by his friend and leader._

 _"Don't worry about it Murray. You didn't ruin anything between us. Neyla and I were just about to wake up before Bentley sent you to get us." Sly answered softly, reassuring his hippo friend that he and Neyla weren't annoyed or upset that Bentley sent him to wake them up, especially if it was something terribly important._

 _"Why did he sent you to come get us anyway?" The tigress asked, wondering why the turtle sent him to wake them up this time._

 _"Bentley received an email message from Howlett, warning us about Captain Fox!" The hippo answered, revealing that their genius turtle friend had received an anonymous email from Jack, warning them about the corrupt vixen coming after them!_

 _"Wait a sec...did you just say, 'Captain' Fox?" Both Sly and Neyla asked, as they couldn't believe what Murray just said: Carmelita had been promoted to the rank of Captain!_

 _"Just come see for yourselves, you guys. You'll understand once you see and read the email." Murray stated softly, showing how he couldn't believe the vixen was promoted either._

 _After walking towards and stepping inside the hippo's and turtle's hotel room, to see Bentley sitting behind the desk while working on the ThiefNet Computer._

 _"Bentley, is it true? About Carmelita being promoted?" Neyla asked, as she and her raccoon lover still couldn't believe that Interpol had promoted the vixen to the rank of Captain!_

 _"I'm afraid that it is Neyla. Here's the email that Jack sent me. I noticed it not too long ago when I logged onto my computer this morning." Her turtle friend answered, while turning the laptop around so Sly and his tigress could see the email themselves and they couldn't believe the contents: how Interpol promoted Carmelita for 'arresting' the Contessa and to their complete shock, she and Howlett were no longer partners. But they also smiled as the wolf detective had offered his help, should they need it._

 _'Thank you Jack.' The tigress stated in her head, thanking her former training partner for offering his help...along with her raccoon lover, as he also began to think of the wolf detective as a friend._

 _"...Say Sly...what was all that noise that Murray and I heard last night? We could tell it was coming from your's and Neyla's room?" Bentley asked, as he and the hippo had heard muffled moaning coming from their hotel room and naturally thought they were watching TV._

 _"Well...let's just say that Neyla and I...had one hell of a great time last night." The raccoon answered cryptically with a smirk, which his tigress lover giggled by his answer and they interlaced their fingers together._

 _"What is that supposed to m..." The turtle began to ask, as he and Murray were surprised by his cryptic answer...but he eventually caught on, as the way that Sly answered, Neyla giggled and laced their fingers together made it rather obvious._

 _"Y-Y-You and Neyla? Y-Y-You guys...had...?" Bentley asked stuttering greatly, as he instinctively knew what the raccoon and tigress did last night!_

 _"You guys...did it?" Murray asked just as surprised and speechless as his turtle friend, as they discovered that Sly and Neyla had sex last night!_

 _"Surprise." Neyla stated, while giggling as the looks that both the hippo and turtle had on their faces after figuring out what they did were priceless!_

 _"You guys aren't mad, right?" Sly asked while chuckling at their friends reaction to learning about his and Neyla's first time together_

 _"No...No, Sly we're not mad. We just...we didn't expect this." Bentley answered after and Murray eventually recovered from the initial shock, as small grins formed, showing they were happy for their friends for taking their relationship to the next level._

 _"By the Neyla...I have something that I would like you to have." He added, as he walked over to his hotel room bed and pulled out a medium sized box covered in decorative wrapping paper and ribbon bow and handed it to his tigress friend/teammate._

 _Both Neyla and Sly turned to each other, as they were surprised by the gift that their turtle just handed her before she removed the ribbon and paper...and gave a soft gasp to what the gift was: her very own Binocucom, which was painted magenta._

 _"My very own Binocucom?" The tigress asked softly, as she was touched that Bentley had built a Binocucom for her and Sly smiled, as shook his friend's hand for building and giving his lover her very own binocular/communication device._

 _"Murray and I talked it over before we broke Sly out of the Contessa's prison and we decided that you deserved your very Binocucom, especially after everything you did to gain and earn our trust." The turtle answered, while revealing that during the drive to Prague and before breaking Sly out of 'the Hole' he and Murray discussed and agreed that Neyla deserved a Binocucom, since she had proven her trustworthiness and accepted her as an official member to their team and family._

 _"Bentley. Murray. Thank you both." Neyla stated as she embraced her friends/teammates in a friendly embrace, which they returned and her raccoon lover smiled at the moment, as she was now officially a member to their team._

 _~Present time~_

After the long drive across the American-Canadian border, Sly and his team had arrived in Nunavut Bay and set up a safe house in an old hunting supply shop on the docks not to far from a train station, the "Ye Old Wharf Traps and Bait'. Once their hide out was nearly finished, the raccoon and his tigress lover had exited the safe house to scout the neighboring area in order to familiar themselves of the frigid town and snow/ice covered forest...with what tress that Bison hadn't chopped down still stood.

"I've got a promising lead on the Clockwerk Parts. I already set up an RV point in the wilderness outside the town." Bentley stated over their earpiece radios, informing the two lovers that he had a lead on the Clockwerk Parts in Bison's possession and set up an RV point out in the wilderness!

Without wasting a second, Sly and Neyla broke into a fast run, sprinting across the empty train tracks while avoiding the Moose guards patrolling the tracks and train station. After sneaking past the moose guards, they had been spotted by a mountain goat carrying a bugle horn to call out for reinforcements. But unfortunately for the goat...he never got the chance to, as Neyla had knocked the goat out with a swift blow to the head from her whip! Once the goat had collapsed to his back from the swift blow to his head...Sly finished the job, lifted the unlucky guard into the air with an 'uppercut' from his cane and slammed down hard!

After dealing with the mountain goat guard, the raccoon and his tigress gasped while skidding to a quick stop as they followed a small river up to a waterfall that fed the smaller body of water...and stared shocked as the RV point was near a cave with an adult sized grizzly bear guarding the entrance to its home!

"When we get back to the safe house, love...Bentley and I are going to have a **serious** talk." Neyla softly stated, as she was upset at Bentley for not mentioning where he placed the RV point to them ahead of time!

"As much as I would love to see that babe, it's not really Bentley's fault. Not warning us about the bear could've been an honest mistake." Sly stated softly, even though he would indeed enjoy witnessing his tigress chew the turtle out for not warning them about any bears, he defended Bentley by saying it could've been an honest oversight.

"Plus, as long as we don't do anything to provoke it, it'll leave us alone." He added, showing he had some insight about interacting with animals out in the wild: as long as they didn't invade the bear's personal space or provoke it, it wouldn't attack them.

The raccoon and his tigress had quietly waded through the river and thankfully to their luck...the grizzly had continued circling outside its cave and paid no attention to the two lovers as they continued walking past its home. But as they waded through the water to the rock in the middle of the river, Sly and Neyla were surprised as they caught a glimpse of a second grizzly bear walking inside the cave! Once they made it safely past the bear outside, the two lovers approached the RV point and Sly pulled out his Binocucom.

"Sly, do you and Neyla see that cabin up on that cliff?" Bentley asked, as he and his raccoon friend glanced up to the cabin on cliff above them with Neyla following her lover's glance upward.

"Yeah, we see it. Is there something significant about it?" The raccoon asked, as he and his Neyla suspected there was more to an old wooden cabin this far out in the wilderness.

"Indeed. That cabin may seem rustic, but you guys shouldn't be fooled. It's the control center to Jean Bison's train empire!" The turtle answered, revealing that the cabin was actually the control center to Bison's entire spice shipping operations for the Klaww Gang!

"Sneak inside and raid his files, the two of you are sure to find out where he keeps his Clockwerk Parts." He added, while instructing the two lovers to sneak inside the cabin and search for any useful documents that would reveal the location of the Clockwerk parts Bison had in his possession.

"Ransacking his files shouldn't be a problem. But climbing up a sheer rock wall...that'll be a challenge." Neyla stated, showing she and Sly had no problem with infiltrating the cabin and ransacking Bison's files...but pointed out that attempting to climb a sheer rock wall would be rather difficult.

"Well, you and Sly are in luck Neyla. Before Jean Bison took over, this area used to be a popular destination for rock climbers. Some of their old wall hooks are still around." Bentley stated, informing the tigress and raccoon that before Bison thawed out from his icy prison, the area they were in was once a popular rock climbing spot for veteran and rookie rock climbers/campers and they could see the wall hooks etched into the cliff wall!

"That's great! I'm guessing if I latched onto a wall hook and leaned back before jumping, I'd gain extra hang time?" Sly asked, as he was excited about the idea of propelling himself skyward after latching his cane onto one of the hooks buried deep into the side of the rock wall to reach the cabin!

"You guessed it right, pal." His turtle friend answered, confirming that the raccoon could indeed obtain extra hang time by leaning back before making a jump to reach higher places, like the cabin.

"But before Neyla and I get up there...we have something we'd like to discuss with you." The raccoon stated cryptically, while Neyla smiled as her lover was playing with their turtle before chewing him out.

"What about?" Bentley asked, as he was curious by what it was his friend/leader and feline girlfriend wanted to talk top him about.

"We made it to the RV point." He stated plain and simple, informing his teammate and tech support that he and Neyla found and made it to the RV point.

"And?" The turtle asked, while wondering what the problem was.

"...You didn't say a thing about there being a bear cave in the area." Sly answered, revealing that he and tigress stumbled upon a cave with two adult bears living inside it near the RV point!

"B-Bears?" Bentley asked while gulping softly, as he realized Neyla would kill him for not bothering to check if there were any species of bears in the area!

"Yeah...grizzly bears!" His raccoon friend stated, a little annoyed at his turtle friend as well, since the bears inside and outside the cave were grizzlies!

"I'm sorry Sly, I didn't know! I should've checked if there were any predator's still in the area." The turtle cried out, apologizing for not bothering to check if any bears or other predators were still around in the wilderness outside the small town!

"It's alright Bent. Just next time...be sure to check for any predators in the area before sending us out in the field again." Sly stated with a small sigh, forgiving his friend for the oversight and asked that he be more thorough in checking if there predator's that could harm and kill next time.

"You got it buddy," His friend stated, showing he would be more thorough in searching for meat eating animals while they were still in Canada before breaking contact.

After breaking contact with Bentley and putting his Binocucom back in his leg pouch, Sly began to walk up to a wall hook, but stopped as he realized something and turned to his Neyla.

"Wait a sec, Neyla. How are you going to get up there?" The raccoon asked, as he instinctively realized that his tigress had no way to reach the cabin!

"No need to worry, my love. I'll take the more scenic route." Neyla answered while planting a gentle kiss on her raccoon lover's lips, which he happy returned before they as he knew how his tigress intended to meet him up on the cliff: the train tracks going uphill.

Sly had proceeded to walk up to the wall hooks while his tigress lover had waited for one of the locomotives to pass by and sprinted up across the tracks! After latching his cane onto a hook, he leaned backwards and shoot up into the air while jumping and latching on to another hook. He leaned back again and landed safely outside the cabin and smirked while glancing over his shoulder to see his Neyla casually walking up beside him. They had proceeded to enter the cabin and to their complete surprise, Jean Bison himself was inside!

"Jackpot you guys, that's Jean Bison!" Bentley cried, surprised and shocked himself after Sly pulled out his Binocucom and contacted him once he and Neyla stepped inside!

"Looks like he didn't notice us come in." The raccoon stated, as the red furred bovine didn't see or hear him and Neyla step inside!

"Just make sure you both stay out of sight and take a photo of each of his train routes...they should help in narrowing our search for his share of the Clockwerk Parts." The turtle stated, while instructing his two friends and teammates to avoid being spotted by Bison and to take photographs of the train routes spread out over the cabin walls, as they would be crucial in locating the Clockwerk Parts the red furred bison had in his possession.

After braking contact with Bentley, the two lovers had climbed up a stacked up pile of metal crates onto the rafters. While Sly and Neyla had taken photos of the trains routes, Bison had paced around the cabin while speaking to Arpeggio on a speakerphone he had set up near the fireplace.

 _"Hello, Arpeggio here."_ The parrot answered on the other end of phone...while both Sly and Neyla glared angrily after hearing the voice of the person who ordered their capture and more importantly, had the Contessa torture and brainwash his tigress back onto their side against her will...which was a failure.

"Salutations Mr. Arpeggio. Y'all got time to shoot the breeze?" Bison answered in an old Western accent, asking the British parrot if he had time to talk.

 _"Of course Jean, for you always. Although must we communicate through that dreadful speakerphone?"_ The parrot answered, showing he was more than happy to chat with the red furred bovine while asking if they really had to communicate through the speakerphone?

"Yeah, I can think better while my legs move. Pumps blood to your brain." He answered, stating he preferred speaking on the phone while walking around, claiming it helped circulate blood to his brain.

 _"Yes, of course. One must keep blood in one's...brain. But do tell, is there some pressing matter you'd like to discuss?"_ Arpeggio stated, showing he found logic in the bison's method of keeping his own brain functioning while asking if there was a specific reason he contacted him.

"First of, are ya still a coming on schedule to pick up that Northern Light battery?" Bison answered while asking his boss if he was still coming to pick up a battery like device from him.

 _"Yes, we're well on the way! My blimp should arrive by the end of the week."_ The parrot answered, stating that he would be arriving on his blimp to pick the battery by the end of week.

"Bull's eye! Per second, when are you gonna give me a look-see at that Clockwerk Brain of yours? I'd sure like to buy it off ya." The red furred bovine exclaimed, showing he would be looking to meet Arpeggio by the end of week and asked when the parrot would let him see the brain of the robotic owl in order to buy it from him.

 _"Bison, you greedy bovine! You already have your fair share of the parts! Would you take my meager portion of the robotic bird for your own and strip me of all my earthly pleasures?"_ His parrot boss stated, reminding Bison that he already his fair share of the parts and refusing to sell him the Clockwerk part he had stowed away on his blimp!

"Easy there partner, just thought I'd ask! It's just that I found some real use for the parts I got. Why I put three of them in the engines of my best trains. With the parts fueling the fire, them trains will run all night and all day! I call them my Iron Horses. Though I keep the plans hidden, stuffed em in the mouths of my three trophy bass." Bison stated, attempting to calm his leader down by explaining he just thought he'd ask and how he made good use of the Clockwerk parts he had by putting them in his three best locomotive's and hidden the plans inside his three trophy bass for safe keeping.

 _"Sounds like you're making capital use of your share of the robotic loot. For now, the Clockwerk Brain stays with me on the blimp. Although, when I arrive to pick up the Northern Light battery...I might consider giving you a small peek."_ Arpeggio stated, pleased by how the red furred bovine used his Clockwerk parts to fuel his 'Iron Horses' in order to transport their spice shipments across North America and offering to only allow his colleague/transport chief a small glimpse of the Brain once he arrived to pick up the battery.

"Works perfectly for me. By the way...is it true about your protege, Neyla, double crossing us?" The red furred bison stated, showing that the parrot's terms for allowing him to get a small look at the Brain in exchange for the battery worked for him and asked if the rumors about his former protege were true.

 _"Unfortunately it is Jean. But not to worry...she'll be dealt with in due time, especially after I send my new protege Carmelita Fox after her and the Cooper Gang."_ The British parrot answered, confirming that the tigress had betrayed them and assisted the Cooper gang in taking down both Rajan and the Contessa, along with claiming their Clockwerk parts and how he had taken the vixen on as his new student.

"It's a shame about Neyla, since I sort of liked her. What a complete waste, but hopefully this Fox well be a much better replacement than that back stabbing tiger." Bison stated with a hint of disgust, even though claiming he had been somewhat fond of the tigress and hoped that the corrupt vixen would prove herself to be a much better replacement as Arpeggio's protege.

 _"She will get the job done, especially after Neyla and Mr. Cooper humiliated her back at the Contessa's castle. She won't stop until she's killed them both. Anyway, I will see you by the end of the week. Have an excellent day, Jean. Ta-ta!"_ Arpeggio stated, reassuring Bison that Carmelita would get the job done, as her hatred for both the tigress and her raccoon lover was what fueled her and wouldn't stop until they were both dead. He had then wished the red furred bovine an excellent day and would see him by the end of the week before hanging up.

The two lovers had shared a silent look and with a firm nod, Neyla had silently walked across the rafter she was on towards the fireplace while Sly had pulled out an alarm clock and tossed it towards a bookshelf on the left side of the room. The loud ringing from the clock had naturally gotten Bison's attention as he stormed across the cabin and glanced around for the source of the sound...as the clock had broken apart when it stopped ringing. While her raccoon kept Bison distracted, the tigress had landed safely on the fire place mantel, approached the trophy bass and removed the rolled plans from its mouth.

After seeing that his tigress had obtained the first blueprint, Sly had tossed another alarm clock and Bison followed it to the right corner of the room near the fireplace...while Neyla climbed back up to the metal beam and silently ran across back to the front door. After glancing back over their shoulders to see that Bison was still looking for the broken alarm clock...the raccoon and his tigress had silently exited the cabin before he finally caught on and spotted them.

"That was some great work guys. Thanks to Bison having a big mouth, we now know that he's hidden the remaining blueprints in his two other cabins I've set up two RV points to help mark them." Bentley stated over their ear radio's, congratulating Sly and Neyla taking the needed recon photos and 1st blueprint without being spotted and thanks to Bison shooting his mouth off, they knew where to find the remaining two blueprints while setting up RV points to show where they were located.

The second cabin was close, as a second set of train tracks had been built going upward/downward past a cliff with a camp fire outside. After witnessing a moose guard foolishly walking across a wooden bridge near the cave...and the idiot pointing both its blunderbuss shotgun and flashlight directly at the grizzly: the moose ran ran for its life with the angry bear giving chase right behind him! While the bear was chasing and slashing the moose apart with its claws, Sly and Neyla had paraglided and landed safely near the tracks. They had immediately ran up the tracks, right up to the cliff to 2nd cabin and were greeted by a small welcoming party: a Canadian goose and mountain goat guard sitting by the camp fire!

The two lovers had fought the two guards separately: Sly battling the goose while his tigress handled the mountain goat. The raccoon had landed two powerful blows, a swing across the face and 'uppercut' underneath the bill...and the goose had retaliated by scooping up a frozen solid snowball from the frozen soil and with a mighty swing from his shovel...hit him directly in his lower stomach! Sly had felt the wind knocked out of him, while his tigress had easily dealt with the mountain goat: after landing two swift and powerful strikes from her whip, she lassoed the knocked out goat and tossed him towards his unsuspecting lackey, due to being focused on her raccoon lover. The goose had gave a honk of surprise as he felt the goat's sharp horns collided against back, knocking them both unconscious!

"Thanks Neyla." Sly stated softly, thanking his tigress for defeating both guards as his breathing returned to normal from the blow the goose guard landed.

"You alright Ringtail?" Neyla asked softly, as she was concerned for the blow her raccoon took while battling the goose.

"I'll be alright. I just wasn't expecting that...let alone from a goose." He answered, showing he had fully recovered from the blow to his lower stomach...and a little embarrassed about taking a blow like that from a goose with a shovel!

The two lovers had approached and entered the 2nd cabin, to their surprise was filled with seven goose guards: five of the floor with two standing lookout on the rafters! But due to his craftiness and strategic mind, Sly smiled as he had the perfect gadgets to deal with the small army of guards. He had pulled out an alarm clock and tossed it right in the center of the room, which earned the attention of every goose stationed inside. Once the idiot guards were directly in the center, looking for the alarm clock...that was when the raccoon had pulled out the Rage Bomb and tossed it directly at the unsuspecting birds!

"Sly, that bomb you just tossed...what does it do?" His tigress, as she wasn't familiar with the gadget her raccoon just tossed towards the guards and instinctively knew her lover obtained it from the Contessa's second safe.

"Watch this babe. This is going to be good." The raccoon answered with a sly smirk on his face, which Neyla mirrored as she could tell that what was about to happen would be very entertaining for them both.

After tossing the Rage Bomb towards the geese and witnessing flashing a purple light flash multiple times...the bomb exploded and released a purple gas, which the guards unknowingly inhaled while knocking them unconscious. After the guards had regained consciousness...their eyes glowed purple and immediately attacked each other: striking the other with his shovel that sent them smashing through the furniture inside the cabin! While the crazed guards while duking it out with each other, both Sly had made a dash for the fire place, using his acrobatic and ninja like skills to avoid being struck by the confused geese as they continued battling each other.

The raccoon had spotted Bison's first safe on the right side of the fire place...but he and Neyla hadn't collected the rest of the clues Bentley needed to decipher the combination. Deciding to repay this cabin another visit after collecting the remaining clues, he climbed up the mantel and snagged the 2nd blueprint off the bass trophy. After obtaining what they came for, the raccoon and his tigress had exited the cabin and dealt with two mountain goat guards that were sitting by the campfire outside. Once the guards were defeated, Sly and Neyla had heard a second locomotive approaching out from the tunnel near the wooden bridge and once the motor unit was close and about to roll on by...they latched on to a pipe dangling from the left side with their cane/whip and climbed on top of the first car!

The two lovers had rode the locomotive across town to the third and final cabin...which was located on the opposite side of the bear cave and mountain. The moment they approached their destination, they had jumped off the train, evaded/destroyed the bear traps outside and entered the cabin. Once inside, Sly had repeated the method he used to get past the geese: lured the four moose guards inside in the center of the room with his Alarm Clock gadget and tossed another Rage Bomb, having them go insane and fight each other! As the incompetent moose guards continued battling each other, Neyla had sprinted across the room, climbed up the fire place mantel and snagged the 3rd and final blueprint.

After obtaining the final set of blueprints, Sly and his tigress had exited the cabin as the moose guards continued fighting. Once outside, the raccoon had pulled out his Binocucom and contacted Bentley.

"Now that we have all three blueprints, we should be able to isolate and track the Iron Horse trains through that satellite dish." The turtle stated, explaining to his raccoon and tigress friends that by using the satellite on top of the mountain, they would be able to track and have access to the travel routes for each Iron Horse train!

"On top of the mountain, huh? It shouldn't take us long." Sly stated cool and plainly, showing he and Neyla would be up on that mountain in no time flat.

"Oh, I almost. You and Neyla should also be on guard for the bald eagles flying above the mountain Sly." His turtle friend stated before they broke contact, informing both the raccoon and tigress to avoid the bald eagles flying overhead and fairly guess they must've claimed the mountain as their territory/nesting area.

After breaking contact with their friend and tech support, the two lovers had worked their way to the mountain: avoiding bear traps and defeating any moose, mountain goat or goose guard that got in their way. Fortunately for Sly and Neyla, the climb to the top of the mountain had been rather easy, due to there being strong/sturdy rocky ledges, hooks and more importantly a vine they could use to climb up to the satellite. The moment they reached the top...a bald eagle had swooped down, but thanks to Bentley warning them ahead of time, they raccoon and his tigress were able to evade them. After evading the aggressive raptors, Sly had walked up to the satellite and after punching in a few keywords, the satellite pointed towards the direction of the safe house!

"Great! We have total access to the GPS system for all three trains! It's all on my computer! Come on back to the safe house. I'll crunch some numbers and give, Neyla and Murray the rundown." Bentley cried out gleefully, as they now had complete access to the GPS system for all three Iron Horse trains and instructed both Sly and Neyla to return to the safe house so he could give them their mission assignments!

It hadn't taken the raccoon and tigress that long to make their way back to the hideout...as they had jumped off the mountain and sailed through the sky by using their paragliders! Once they floated downward near the town, they sprinted past the train station and entered the safe house after reaching the docks. After handing Bentley the recon photos, Sly, Neyla and Murray had taken their seats as their friend had put together a slide show presentation.

"Thanks to Sly's and Neyla's efforts, we now know the location of all three of the local Clockwerk Parts: two Lungs and a Stomach." The turtle started off while congratulating both the raccoon and tigress for their superb stealth work and revealing which parts of the ancient owl that Bison had in his possession, while presenting two separate slides: one of the 2nd cabin and one of the satellite dish on top of the mountain.

"Jean Bison has grafted each piece to the engine of his Iron Horse trains, This improvement allows the trains to run all night and all day. We won't have the luxury of sneaking aboard while their stocked." Bentley continued, revealing that Bison had welded the Lungs and Stomach to the engines of his Iron Horse trains: which meant a non-stop fuel supply to keep the locomotives operation withing running out of fuel, while displaying four separate slides of all three trains.

"While they are in motion, the only means of boarding is through the caboose roof...which have unfortunately been locked down. These need to go!" He added, explaining that the only means of infiltrating the trains are by climbing down the caboose on all three trains...but were bolted down from the outside!

"First, collect the spice gas from the balloons floating above town and then land on the back of the caboose to blow off the locks!" Bentley stated, explaining by using spice gas collected from balloons floating above the town, they would have to land on the caboose to blow off the locks, while showing three slides: one the balloons floating in the sky above town, a second of one the trains passing by and a third with an arrow drawn in yellow marker pointing directly at the caboose.

"Once the way is cleared, I'll suit up and jump in on Iron Horse #1 as it passes near town. With some luck we'll have the first Clockwerk Lung in a few short hours!" The turtle concluded, stating he would infiltrate the first Iron Horse train as it rolls through town and steal the first Lung while presenting two final slides: one of Iron Horse #1 as it traveled around the mountain and the other of the hideout, while ending the presentation.

After being given their orders, Sly and Neyla headed out for the field and separated to carry out their assignments. Before heading to his assigned RV point, the raccoon had searched for and located the remaining clues the Bentley needed to decipher the combination to Bison's safe. After he found the remaining clue, Sly followed and ran across the high tracks back to the cabin that held the safe and stepped inside. Once the raccoon had entered the cabin, he saw that the previous geese stationed to protect it were replaced with new guards...but he wasn't discouraged in anyway. He merely tossed another Alarm clock, which lured the idiot guards to the left side corner of the fireplace. As the goose guards had searched for the alarm clock, which broke apart after the ringing died...Sly had sneaked past the clueless geese, he walked up to the safe and knelt down.

"Jean Bison is in for another rude awakening the next time he checks inside this vault. The code should be...1-2-9." Bentley stated sarcastically, pretending to feel 'sorry' for Bison after he discovered his 1st safe empty and providing his raccoon friend the combination to open it.

After punching in the numbers that his turtle friend and tech support suggested, Sly opened the vault door and smiled at the gadget that was locked inside: the Music Box. He swiftly snatched the gadget out of the safe and replaced it with his family clan's calling card. Before the raccoon had exited the cabin, he decided to try out the newest addition to his arsenal, the Music Box. The second the geese had given up on looking for the destroyed alarm clock..Sly had tossed a music box that started playing the nursery song 'Go to Sleep my Baby'which earned the attention of all the goose guards...and slowly put them to sleep as soon as the box started playing the soothing tone!

A huge smile spread across the raccoon's face, as he was liking the new gadget very much: as it would make pick-pocketing guards and sneaking past them much easier as he sprinted past the sleeping geese and exited the cabin. Once outside, Sly had approached his RV point by the high tracks and contacted Bentley after taking out his Binocucom.

"Sly! It's...it's awful! I can't believe it!" The turtle cried out in complete dismay, stating something terrible had just happened!

"Slow down Bentley...what happened?" He asked confused, wondering what it was that made his friend so distraught while calming him down to understand what was wrong.

"Murray, he went out looking for a snack shortly after you and Neyla went out into the field and was captured...by Captain Fox!" Bentley stated after calming down, explaining how their hippo friend went out to look for a snack and was captured by the newly promoted and corrupt vixen, who finally arrived in Nunavut Bay as he and his raccoon glanced down at her from the cliff!

"So Carmelita finally caught up with us...just like Jack said in his email. Don't worry Bentley, I'll handle her." Sly stated with contempt for the traitor and assured his friend/tech support that he would deal with the corrupt vixen.

"But...I don't know where she's locked up Murray! I'm used to having all the facts and you know what Carmelita will do once she gets her hands on you and Neyla, Sly!" His turtle friend exclaimed, stating that he had on idea where the vixen had locked Murray locked up and reminded his friend and leader that Carmelita would kill both him and his tigress for humiliating her back at the Contessa's castle!

"Don't worry, I'll shadow her without being seen...she's bound to check in on Murray sooner or later." The raccoon stated, assuring his friend that he'd be careful while following the vixen to learn where she kept their hippo friend and break him free before they broke contact.

After putting his Binocucom back in his leg pouch, Sly had shadowed Carmelita, from the forest to the small town and back to the wilderness to where she had Murray locked up: on a remote cliff outside the town and overlooking an icy lake filled with floating chunks of ice and near a second set of tracks for the Iron Horse trains. While shadowing the vixen, he climbed a pipe up to a power pole and walked along the power line to the small cell his friend was locked in without Carmelita knowing he was right above her,

"Hey criminal...you enjoying your stay in that cell?" The corrupt vixen sarcastically asked with a dark smile on her face, showing she found the hippo cramped up in that small holding cell amusing!

"You call me a criminal Fox? Look whose talking! You're a disgrace to the force by working with the Klaww Gang to simply kill me and my friends! Interpol will kill you themselves when they realize and learn what sort of cop you truly are!" Murray shouted from inside his holding cell with great ire towards the corrupt and arrogant vixen, saying she was the true disgrace to the force and how Barkley and Interpol would kill her when they discovered the truth about her!

"Oh, shut up! I don't want you or that pathetic nerd for a turtle friend of yours! I'm only using you as bait in order to lure Cooper out to me. Once I have him and his bitch tigress lover, Neyla...I'll kill them both for humiliating me back at the Contessa's castle. And just so you know hippo...those idiots at Interpol will never learn about my alliance with the Klaww Gang. I could kill every one of those idiots, even that hothead and windbag for my boss, Chief Barkley and be promoted as the new unit chief." Carmelita snapped at the hippo for his back talk, while revealing he was just bait to flush Sly out in the open and then use the raccoon to lure Neyla out in the open as well...and how she would kill them for tying her up in those cobweb threading and kicking her right in her face before defeating the Contessa and stealing the 1st Clockwerk Eye back in Prague!

Murray was also horrified from what the corrupt vixen just said: how she would eventually kill her colleagues and badger boss in order to become the new unit chief of the Interpol office back in France! Satisfied by the shocked look on his face, the vixen walked away to search for Sly...only she was completely that he was directly above her on the power line...and he himself stared shocked after realizing how corrupt and ruthless Carmelita truly was as she walked away to look for him. After making sure she had walked away far enough to avoid being seen, the raccoon had jumped off the line and landed right next to his friend's holding cell.

"Murray! I've come to break you out." Sly stated, informing his hippo friend that he would free him out of that small holding cell.

"Fat chance. This cell door is triple padlocked and Fox is carrying all the keys. Besides, you should just get out of here Sly. If you heard what she just said, she'll use you as bait to lure in Neyla to her when she captures you...and she'll kill you both afterwards, especially after what you guys did to her back at the Contessa's castle!" His hippo friend stated, informing his raccoon friend that the cage to his cell was locked down with thee padlocks and Carmelita was holding all three keys on her and begged Sly to forget about him, since he didn't the vixen to get what she wanted by using him as bait to lure in the raccoon and tigress so she could kill them in revenge for humiliating her back in Prague.

"I heard everything she said and don't worry big guy, that bitch never get her hands on me or my Neyla. When Interpol discovers what kind of person Carmelita truly is...she'll be sentenced to prison without the possibility of parole." The raccoon stated, refusing to abandon his friend and claiming that once Interpol discovered the truth about Carmelita's true colors and corruption, she would be sentenced to life in prison without any possibility of getting out.

"She's tough though Sly. If you manage to steal a key, you better run...Fox will surely notice and chase after you." Murray stated, warning his friend and leader that if he managed to steal a key off the vixen...he'd better run as Carmelita would no doubtingly know he was behind her and give chase after him!

"Leave her to me." Sly stated plain and simple, showing he wasn't even the slightest intimidated by the vixen and would have the keys in a matter of minutes.

Without wasting a second, the raccoon had ran after the corrupt vixen and after see she was distracted battling with a moose and goat guard who unintentionally walked into her line of sight and attacked her! After making swift work of the two guards, Carmelita had failed to notice Sly sneaking up behind her and snaking his cane into her back pocket, obtaining the 1st key! After scoring the first key, he broke into a fast after the vixen felt his cane in her back pocket and gave chase after seeing it was the raccoon she hated so much who did it! The chase between them didn't last long, as Sly had activated his Smoke Bomb gadget: creating a cloud of gray smoke to block his enemies line of vision and managed to give Carmelita the slip after she lost sight of him. After obtaining the remaining two keys and giving the vixen the slip, he returned to the cliff and removed the three padlocks to his friend's holding cell.

"Thanks, pal. I was getting a Charlie horse standing in there." Murray stated, thanking his raccoon friend for freeing him from that cramped up cell while admitting that he his entire body was growing stiff from being in that cell for so long.

"Not a problem, big guy. Plus, I got to infuriate Carmelita further as a bonus. I just feel bad for leaving Neyla out of it." Sly stated, showing he was more than happy to free his friend, although he felt bad for leaving his tigress out of this opportunity to piss off and humiliate the vixen further.

"Don't feel bad Sly. You and Neyla can always humiliate her together next time." The hippo stated softly, while pointing out to the raccoon that he and his tigress lover could always piss off Carmelita together during their next field job.

"Yeah, you're right Murray. Anyway, I'll see and Neyla back at the safe house." The raccoon stated, knowing his hippo friend was right about how he and his tigress could infuriate the corrupt vixen together and would be seeing them later back at the hideout before heading back to town.

 _~Meanwhile with Neyla~_

After the tigress left the safe house and separating from her raccoon lover, she found her assigned RV point: on a high ledge by a cliff over looking a frozen lake with an ice plane. After a complex and lengthy climb, Neyla had approached her RV point and contacted Bentley after she took out her Binocucom.

"Okay Neyla, we need to break into the Iron Horse trains...but the only way in, through the caboose, is locked." The turtle stated, informing his tigress friend that their only means of boarding the locomotives was by sneaking in through the caboose, but were unfortunately locked down.

"To blow the locks off, you'll need to collect the ultra-unstable denatured spice gas from those balloons floating above town." Bentley added, as he and Neyla looked upward to the sky to see a number of balloons with the Canadian national flag floating above the small town.

"How am I supposed to get up there and collect the spice gas?" The tigress asked, as she was curious to how she was supposed a collect the gas while she and her turtle friend glanced to the ice plane and saw Murray waving up to her.

"Murray's already commandeered this ice plane. Jump on its strut and he'll fly you up to a good paragliding altitude. Oh, and strap on a special vacuum backpack: it'll automatically collect the spice after you've popped a balloon." He answered, explaining how Murray would fly her up into the air and she would have to jump while wearing a special vacuum that would suck up the gas after she popped a balloon while gliding in the air.

"Sounds like a fun time." Neyla stated, as she found the idea of riding a plane up into the sky and sucking up the gas inside the balloons while paragliding rather entertaining.

"Once you've collected enough spice gas, you'll have to land directly on the train's caboose." The turtle stated, informing her that after she collected a large enough amount of spice gas, she would have to land directly on the caboose.

"Why directly on the caboose?" The tigress asked, as she didn't understand why she needed to land only on the very end of all three trains.

"Denatured spice gas is very unstable at lower altitudes. Unless you land on the caboose, you won't have the time to get the gas tank to the lock before it explodes." Bentley answered, explaining how the spice gas was very unstable at lower altitudes and if she didn't land on the caboose, she wouldn't be able to make it to the lock before the gas tank exploded!

"So...you're saying I either land on the caboose or I get to blown into bits if I miss the bloody mark." Neyla stated after learning that a full tank of the extremely dangerous and unstable gas would kill her and she wouldn't have the time to reach the locks if she didn't land on the caboose.

"Indeed. Chemistry my friend, is a harsh mistress." He stated sadly, while pointing out the most obvious fact of life: there's nothing fun about screwing around with dangerous chemicals before they broke contact.

After breaking contact with Bentley and putting away her Binocucom, the tigress had leaped down from the edge of the cliff and glided down after deploying her paraglider. As she jumped and glided down from the ledge, Murray had climbed into the cockpit of the ice plane and had it running in a matter of seconds. Once she landed on the frozen lake, Neyla had ninja spire jumped on the strut of the plane and the hippo flew them up into the sky! As soon as they were at a high enough altitude, the tigress had jumped off the plane, deployed her paraglider and started popping balloons to collect the gas stored inside. After popping 4-5 balloons, the vacuum pack was filled with a full tank and Neyla sailed through the sky until she landed on the caboose of Iron Horse #1. After the tigress and her hippo friend had made two more trips into the sky, she collected the necessary gas to blow the locks and landed directly on the caboose of Iron Horse 2 and 3!

"Yes! You guys did it! All the Iron Horse Trains are unlocked!" Bentley cried out while congratulating Neyla and Murray on a job well down, as they could now sneak on board the Iron Horse trains to steal the Lungs and Stomach!

After the tigress and hippo had returned to the safe house, their turtle friend was suited up and prepared for his field assignment: sneaking aboard Iron Horse #1 and stealing the 1st Clockwerk Lung! Once he stepped outside, Bentley ventured out into the field and found his assigned RV point: on top of a high pillar located not too far from the town, behind a house across from the train station. After he used a trampoline to help reach/land on top of the pillar and approaching the RV point, he contacted Sly after pulling out his Binocucom.

"According to this time table, Iron Horse 1 should be passing by anytime now." His raccoon friend stated, going over the GPS data and train route schedule while they both saw the very locomotive approaching as it traveled around the mountain.

"I-I see it. It's moving very fast!" Bentley replied a bit nervous, as the Iron Horse train was going very fast and he had doubts about being able to jump on board!

"Just jump on the caboose and climb through the hatch...piece of cake." Sly stated plain and simple, calmly instructing his friend to find his timing before he jumped and to climb down the hatch after landing on the caboose before they broke contact.

As soon as he and the raccoon broke contact, that was when the first Iron Horse had rolled on by. Although a bit unsure, Bentley did as Sly suggested: mentally prepared himself and broke into a fast...and much to his complete surprise, he landed right on the 2nd train car!

 _'I-I can't believe it! I actually made it!'_ The turtle mentally said to himself, smiling that he actually made it on the locomotive before running down to the caboose on the final train car!

Once he climbed down the hatch and entered the train car, Bentley had fought his way to the front of the train, car to car. The first two cars were defended by security lasers, which he easily evaded and used a trampoline to land on the roof of the third car...but had to evade the bald eagles swooping down as he sprinted across to the other end. After getting past the eagles, the turtle had spotted three Canadian geese guarding the first flatcar, which was littered with wooden and explosive barrels, along with metal crates which were filled with spice. Getting past the useless guards was not a problem for the genius turtle though: as he sniped them from a distance and sedated them with his sleep darts! After the guards were sound asleep, he finished them off with a well placed bomb that knocked them off the train!

After the first flat car was cleared, Bentley used another trampoline to land on the roof of the 4th train car, which was protected by two more goose guards. But just like the previous guards, he dealt with them rather quickly: he sneaked up behind the first goose and with a swift blow from his dart gun, sent him flying off the car! His companion shared the same fate: after the turtle put him to sleep with a well aimed sleep dart, he sent the moronic goose flying with a bomb! Once the two guards were defeated, Bentley had cleared out a second flatcar with a single moose and two mountain goat guards by putting them to sleep his darts and finishing them with his bombs.

The turtle had then proceeded through a 5th car and easily got past the floor lasers and instead of crawling alongside a huge supply of crates filled with space...he used the the newest addition to his arsenal he purchased off Thief Net: the Hover Pack! After performing a double jump, Bentley had activated the jet pack he bought and slowly hovered in the air, while grabbing the edge of a crate and pulled himself up and defeated the two remaining moose guards stationed on the train to protect the Clockwerk Part by putting them to sleep with a single Snooze Bomb and sent them both flying off the train with a regular one! Once the two guards were defeated, Bentley had walked towards the engine and removed the still functioning Lung from the still burning fire before departing the train with his prize !

"Awesome work Bentley! Chalk up on strange robot organ for us and one less Iron Horse train for Jean Bison!" Sly stated through the team's ear radios, congratulating his friend on obtaining the first Clockwerk Part from Bison and also taking out his first Iron Horse train!

After Bentley made his way back to the safe house with the first Lung, Sly, Murray and Neyla congratulated him for his extraordinary work and stating how proud they were of him, for he nabbed the Lung all on his own without their help. After placing the Lung in the back of the team van with the rest of the Clockwerk Parts, Sly and his friends had decided to turn in for bed, as they knew that the next set of tasks to get Bison's remaining two Parts would be more challenging.

 **A/N: There it is everyone, the 1st half to the He Who Tames the Iron Horse episode. I would like to apologize to my reviewers and fellow Fanfic authors who are good friends of mine for the long wait. I know that I promised to have this chapter posted last weekend, but I was distracted because my dad and I had to be ready to leave for the airport to catch our flight to Texas. The 2nd half to the He Who Tames the Iron Horse will be posted either by the end of the month next weekend or first week of September. Until then, be sure review and comment.**


	20. He Who Tames the Iron Horse Pt 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any its characters, except my OC**

 **A/N: Alright everyone, here is the 2nd half to the He Who Tames the Iron Horse chapter as promised. The missions will remain the same in the chapter, with only one slight twist: with Neyla helping her raccoon lover in stealing the 2nd Clockwerk Lung.**

 **Reviews and comments will be appreciated**

 **Chapter 20: He Who Tames the Iron Horse Pt. 2**

Morning had arrived much sooner than expected and despite having a difficult time going to sleep, due to the freezing temperature, Sly and his team had eventually woken up and gathered around the briefing table for breakfast. While Bentley was putting the slide show presentation together, Neyla handed her raccoon lover and hippo friend their own mug filled with hot chocolate, which they deeply appreciated and thanked the tigress as they accepted the mugs. She had also set an extra two mugs: one for herself and one for her turtle friend/teammate.

"Things are going great! We've already stolen one of Jean Bison's three Clockwerk Parts." Bentley stated, informing his friends that their plans to steal Bison's Clockwerk Parts had been going exactly as planned, while displaying three slides of the 1st Iron Horse train: one of the locomotive itself and the 1st Lung.

"However...Iron Horse 2 and 3, are going to be much more difficult to crack." He stated softly, revealing that attempting to steal the 2nd Lung and Stomach from the remaining two Iron Horse trains, while showing two separate slides of said locomotives.

"First, I'll have to board Iron Horse 2 and do a little preemptive RC chopper strike to eliminate the air defenses. Once the coast is clear, it'll be up to Sly and Neyla to work their magic in the interior, in order to get at the 2nd Clockwerk Lung!" The turtle stated, explaining how he would board the 2nd Iron Horse train and take out the train's air defenses with the RC chopper so his raccoon and tigress friends could get a clear shot at the 2nd Lung.

"Murray, you'll have to trap some of the local bear cubs, in order to unlock a nearby hand car. We're going to need it, in order to catch up with Iron Horse 3." Bentley stated, informing his hippo friend that he would have to 'kidnap' several grizzly bear cubs so they could get access to a locked up hand car right next to the train station outside the safe house while showing three slides: two of a single grizzly bear cub and the third of the hand car.

"But don't worry, the cubs won't be hurt..although I can't say the same for the guards." He added, reassuring his friends and teammates that the grizzly bear cubs wouldn't be injured after Murray caught them...while not promising that the guards wouldn't, especially when the cub's mother came running for her babies as he concluded the presentation with three final slides: another with one of the bear cubs and the last two: both of the female grizzly bear terrorizing the guards while standing on her hind legs before attacking an unlucky Goose guard!

"Whoa, whoa! Slow your roll Bent. You better run that by me, Neyla and Murray again!" Sly stated, as he and his tigress did a double take after hearing what their hippo friend's mission entailed!

"You want Murray to risk his life...kidnapping two grizzly bear cubs just to get at an old rusty handcar?" Neyla stated after her raccoon lover, not believing that Bentley expected their friend and teammate to risk being killed by one or both the adult grizzlies in order for them to obtain the means to catching up with Iron Horse 3!

"Look, you guys think I'm thrilled about the idea of sending him into running into that bear cave? I'm not! You know that I would never intentionally send Murray on a suicide mission Sly! But's it's the only way in order for us to get access to that hand car!" Their turtle friend stated, showing he wasn't happy with himself or the idea of sending their hippo friend into that bear cave either, but was adamant that it was a necessary risk worth taking.

"Um, guys? I'm right here." Murray stated, reminding his friends that he was sitting right in front of them and that was enough to end their arguing.

"Look Sly, Neyla, I'm grateful for you guys worrying about my safety, especially with me having to kidnap two bear cubs and...taking the risk of being mauled by one of those grizzles. But we need to trust Bentley's judgment. If he says that me kidnapping those cubs is the only way to get at that old handcar...then that's the only way. You guys don't have to worry, I'll be fine." He added, thanking both his raccoon and tigress friends/teammates for their concern, especially when he went out into the field for his job assignment and reassured that he'd be fine, along with reminding them that they needed to trust Bentley's judgment.

"Alright, big guy. Good luck out there." The raccoon stated, showing he understood and respected his friend's decision in going through with his field job to kidnap the bear cubs.

"Thanks Sly." The hippo stated, thanking his friend and team leader for wishing him luck once he found and reached his RV point out in the field.

After being given their assignments, Sly and Neyla remained in the safe house while Bentley and Murray had stepped outside to carry out their field assignments. Once outside, the turtle and hippo sprinted outside the small town and separated, in order to reach their own RV point. After climbing on the roof of a small cabin outside of town by using his Hover Pack gadget and pulling out his Binocucom, he spotted his RV point on a slope surrounding the mountain. Reaching the RV point was not an easy task, especially after Bentley spotted Carmelita searching around the base of the mountain for him and his friends! But fortunately for him, an unlucky Moose guard had stepped right in front of the corrupt vixen's line of sight and she instantly fired an electric round from her shock pistol!

Thankfully for the turtle, a Mountain Goat guard had overheard the shooting and called out through his bugle horn: alerting any other guards of the corrupt vixen's location! While Carmelita was distracted facing Bison's brainless lackeys, Bentley had climbed up the slope of the mountain, pulled out his Binocucom and contacted Sly after he reached his RV point.

"Heads up Bentley, here comes Iron Horse #2. You and that RC chopper of yours ready for some action?" The raccoon stated, as he and his turtle friend spotted the second Iron Horse train rolling past Bison's second cabin and asked if he was ready with his RC chopper.

"We'll get the job done...provided that I can catch up with and board that train!" The turtle answered, assuring his raccoon friend and leader that he would take out the security defenses...assuming that he would be able to board the 2nd locomotive!

After breaking contact with the raccoon, Bentley had noticed that Iron Horse 2 was about to drive through past town...and came up with the perfect plan in order for him to sneak on board. While keeping an eye out for the 2nd Iron Horse as it reached and drove past the train station, the turtle had ran fast as his legs could go while running/climbing up a 3rd set of tracks which was no doubting meant for Iron Horse 3. As he continued to run up the third set of tracks, Bentley glanced back to the 2nd locomotive and saw it already passing through the small town and nearing the 3rd cabin, where Sly and Neyla obtained the 3rd blueprint! As soon as the turtle had made it to the top of the tracks, he glanced down to see Iron Horse 2 beginning to roll on by...before he jumped off the tracks towering above the train and landed safely directly on the caboose!

As soon as he entered and climbed down from the hatch, the turtle had prepared his RC chopper before sending it out to neutralize the train's security defense systems.

"I sure hope this works, otherwise Sly and Neyla won't make it through this train unless I neutralize the aerial defenses." Bentley stated, knowing it was all up to him to take out the security defenses on Iron Horse 2 in order for his raccoon and tigress friends to reach and obtain the 2nd Lung.

"It's a good thing that I finished outfitting the RC chopper with a new cannon. Those idiot guards won't know what hit them." He stated while chuckling softly, as he had installed a new attack cannon to the chopper, which would make his assignment a walk in the park!

The turtle had sent the remote control chopper upward into the sky and began his attack run: clearing out the first train that was guarded by two Mountain Goat and Canadian geese guards with one well placed bomb! Right after the incompetent guards were dealt with, two missile launches had emerged from the left/right side of the car. The launchers had fired a single missile, which released bullets that scattered once the missiles were fired! While avoiding enemy fire, the RC chopper had destroyed the missile on the left with three well placed bombs...but not without taking some minor damage. After destroying the second missile launcher, Bentley had piloted the chopper to the next train car.

Once the first car was clear, the RC chopper had took a small fleet of RC bi-planes and two attack helicopter drones while skillfully avoiding enemy fire. After the second car was cleared, the turtle had piloted the chopper over to the third car and took out the two Geese guards with two well placed bombs! Right after the clueless guards were dealt with, four missile launchers had emerged from the right/left side of the car. Destroying all four launchers was not an easy task: as the turtle had a rather difficult piloting the chopper to avoid any serious damage from the missiles while unfortunately taking a few small hits.

After destroying all four missile launchers and third car was clear, Bentley piloted the chopper to the fourth car, which was was defended by a huge fleet of bi-plane and four attack helicopter drones. Once the fourth car was secured, the RC chopper had flown over to the 5th car...which was more challenging than the previous cars: as it was defended by a huge fleet of bi-planes and side mounted missile launchers! The bi-plane drones had also done something quiet unexpected: right after the turtle's RC chopper destroyed/evaded half of the bi-planes attacking it...the circled back to land a counter attack! Bentley had slightly groaned in annoyance, as his chopper was taking a beating, due to struggling to avoid the missiles and bi-planes. But fortunately, he was able to take out the two missile launchers and securing the 5th car...but the RC chopper was badly damaged and down to 30% of remaining power.

 _'I've got to clear out that sixth car...I just hope the chopper can hold out.'_ The turtle mentally stated, while silently praying that he pilot his RC chopper to clear out the sixth and final car without any further damage.

After the 5th car was neutralized, Bentley had piloted the chopper to the sixth car..which was the final car he needed to clear out for Sly and Neyla to obtain the 2nd Lung. However...the final car was more heavily protected than the previous ones: as it was defended by two missile launchers, four attack helicopter drones and a huge wave of bi-plane drones! The turtle had piloted his RC chopper to skillfully avoid the laser fire from the attack helicopters and missile launchers...and took at least four-five hearts, which caused it to lose stability for a small second! Bentley had sweated nervously, as the chopper was down to 16% and knew he couldn't risk taking anymore hits...otherwise his RC chopper would fall out of the sky and be destroyed from the crash!

 _'C'mon...you got this girl. Just keep it together a little longer.'_ Bentley mentally stated, begging for his RC chopper to stay in the air long enough to destroy the missile launchers.

After avoiding the bi-planes and attack helicopters, the RC chopper had took out the missile launcher on the left with three well placed bombs and destroyed the one the right as well!

"Yes! The aerial defenses are down! Now it's all up to Sly and Neyla to finish the job!" The turtle cried out happily, that despite all odds and how heavily damaged his RC chopper was, he was able to clear the way for his team leader and tigress lover!

As soon as the train had exited the tunnel across the river from the bear cave, Bentley had jumped off the locomotive as it continued on its route and about to circle back through town. After disembarking Iron Horse 2, the turtle had followed the tracks back to town and after sedating a Moose guard who spotted him, stepped inside the safe house to see Sly and Neyla resting their eyes while leaning back in their seats.

"Hey guys, I'm back." He stated softly while placing his greatly damaged RC chopper on the briefing table as the raccoon and tigress immediately opened their eyes after hearing his nasal voice.

"Hey Bent...whoa! What happened to your RC chopper?!" Sly stated softly while waking slowly waking up from his nap...but became surprised and shocked after seeing his friend's prized RC drone in such a damaged state along with his tigress!

"Let's just say that...the aerial defenses Bison had installed to Iron Horse 2...were a bit more sophisticated than I previously thought." Bentley stated plain and simple, informing his raccoon friend and leader that the security defenses for the 2nd locomotive were much tougher than he realized.

"Can the RC chopper still be fixed?" Neyla asked softly, wondering if her turtle friend could repair the damages to the chopper and hoping it would still be operational.

"The chopper took a lot of damage while taking out the aerial defenses on Iron Horse 2...but, yes. I should be able to replace the damaged components with fully functioning ones; especially the bomb component and cannon. I'm positive that I should have it fixed by tonight." The turtle answered, informing his friends that the chopper could be repaired and would have it fully functional by the end of the day.

 _~Meanwhile with Murray~_

After he and Bentley had went their separate ways after exiting the safe house and sprinting past town, the hippo had gotten into a 'small scrap' with a Moose and Mountain Goat guard! The Moose guard he was battling, had spotted him when he intentionally walked into his line sight near the 3rd set of tracks for Iron Horse 3. The fight against the first Moose didn't last long...especially after the hippo had landed a powerful a right hook and left uppercut to Moose's lower jaw, knocking him out! But unfortunately for Murray, a Mountain Goat guard was nearby, heard the commotion and after quickly spotting him, immediately bringing his bugle horn close to mouth and blew into it, alerting any other guards nearby before charging in...which was also bad luck for the idiot thug, as the hippo had decided to test out his newly acquired gadget: the Berserker Charge!

Once the Mountain Goat was close enough, Murray had lowered his head while running at an insanely fast speed, headbutting the idiot lackey directly in his face! The Mountain Goat had felt like he charged into a brick wall after the hippo had tackled him headfirst and collapsed flat on his back while gazing at the stars. After knocking the brainless guard unconscious, Murray had lifted the goat over his head and slammed him down to the frigid and freezing soil, knocking him out for good! Once the two idiot guards were defeated, the hippo had broke into a fast run...as he spotted Carmelita running from the small area she held him prisoner from before! Not wanting the corrupt vixen to capture him a second time, Murray had ran up the third set of tracks while glancing over his shoulder to see if Carmelita was chasing him and to his delight...she wasn't, as she was busy battling a Moose and Canadian goose guard!

After making a clean get away and sprinting across the tracks, the hippo found his RV point: on a high wooden platform connect to the tracks by some cables and contact Bentley after pulling out his Binocucom.

"We'll need this hand car to chase after Iron Horse #3...but, for the time being, its all fenced in." The turtle stated as the hippo had glanced back towards town, directly at the locked up hand car that their team needed in order to steal Bison's third Clockwerk Part.

"Not for long though. I'll tear that fence apart!" Murray replied, showing he had the answer to their problem: by ripping the fence apart with his bare hands!

"The metal is too resilient for my bombs or your muscle. No, for this job we're going to have to rely on a much stronger force: the love of a mother for her child." Bentley countered, revealing to his hippo friend that the metal was to dense to be blown open by his bombs or bend apart or his raw strength and cryptically stated that they required the help of mother nature.

"Uh...wanna fill me in on something?" The hippo asked softly, showing he was slightly confused by what his turtle friend was talking about.

"Yes, I've had the good fortune of locating two juvenile bear cubs. If you were to put them together inside that fence, they'd surly start fighting. Bears at that age are particularly antisocial. The noise from the squabble should bring in the mother to free the angry youths." The turtle answered, revealing to Murray that he had located two grizzly bear cubs and explained that if he were to place the cubs inside the fence, they would surely fight each other due to their species aggressive and anti-social nature.

"Oh, I get ya. That big mama bear will be able to smash that fence no problem to free her cubs." Murray stated, as he pieced together and understood what he was supposed to do perfectly: by kidnapping the two grizzly bear cubs and putting together inside the fence, their mother would come running and free them easily...and giving their team access to the hand car!

"That's correct." Bentley stated with a nod, confirming that was indeed the plan as his friend had changed direction from the locked up hand car to one of the cubs, whom was sleeping peacefully near Bison's third cabin.

"Beware cubs, for you hunted by 'The Murray!" He stated plain and simple, while proclaiming himself as a hunter and the cubs were his quarry before he and his friend broke contact.

After he put away his Binocucom, Murray had walked up the slope where the first grizzly cub was sleeping...which was littered with bear traps! But thankfully, the traps were extremely fragile and breakable...as they broke into scattered pieces after he landing a single left/right uppercut or simply picking them up and throwing them out of his way. Once the slope was clear of traps, the hippo had walked up to the cub...which was thankfully still asleep, despite Murray destroying the traps with his fists or throwing them out of the way! After quietly approaching the sleeping grizzly cub and lifting it over his head, he sprinted back to town with his small, furry and now fully awake cargo.

However...heading back to the town was not exactly easy: as the cub had growled loud enough to earn the attention of several Moose, Mountain Goat and Goose guards that were patrolling near the cabin or mountain. Murray had managed to avoid being spotted by a Moose as he crossed the tracks near the train station...but unfortunately, a Mountain Goat that was on the roof of a small cabin across from the station and tracks had heard the cub's growls. As soon as the Mountain Goat had leaped down from the roof and saw the hippo with the cub in his hands and blew into his bugle horn, alerting two Moose guards nearby! But unfortunately for the guards...that was also the same time Murray had tossed the cub into the fence...and turned around with a smirk on his face!

The moment the Mountain Goat was close enough, the hippo had landed a powerful right hook to his face, knocking him while listening to the birdies! While the Goat was unconscious, Murray had charged in while evading the two Moose guards shooting at him with their blunderbusses and landed an uppercut to the first Moose's lower jaw! While the first Moose staggered from the swift blow to his face...his fellow lackey landed a powerful blow himself, by striking the hippo across the face with the stock of his shotgun. Murray had groaned as the power thrown into the sneak attack actual hurt...but quickly recovered and countered by performing the Berserker Charge: lowering his head and charging forward, tackling the guard in his chest!

The second Moose had felt the wind knocked out of him after the hippo had headbutted him in the stomach, knocking him unconscious! After the second Moose was knocked out cold, his fellow lackey had attempted to strike Murray with his antlers...only for the hippo to defeat him first after landing a powerful right hook! Once the first Moose was dealt with, Murray had heard the Mountain Goat regaining consciousness...and smirked as he had the perfect way with knocking both the Goat and 2nd Moose guard. He had picked the Goat up from the soil and tossed him directly at the Moose, having them sprawled out beside each other!

"Man...these guards are pathetic. To think Bison would hire thugs with actual talent or brains." The hippo stated with a soft smile, not believing what terrible fighters Bison's lackeys were, as they hadn't even provided a decent challenge.

"That's nice work Murray. You'll find the next bear cub in the cave near the cliff where Bison's first cabin is." Bentley stated over the team ear radio, congratulating his friend capturing the first grizzly cub and informing where he'd find the other one: in the bear cave that Sly and Neyla discovered before climbing up Bison's primary control center and gathering all the Intel they needed in order to steal the Lungs and Stomach.

"Roger that little buddy. I'm on the way." Murray stated, showing he understood and memorized that last piece of information, since Sly and Neyla were against the idea of him having to step inside that cave...since the mother and father grizzlies were protecting their home.

Without wasting a second, the hippo had sprinted back towards the wilderness while following the tracks to the area where his raccoon and tigress friends had to climb to Bison's first cabin...and skidded to a stop, after seeing the mother grizzly bear walking around the front entrance to its home. After waiting patiently for the mother bear to cross the bridge away from its home, Murray had tiptoed quietly as he could without alerting the father grizzly as it circled the inside of their cave and spotted the 2nd cub sleeping peacefully on the left side of the cave. After carefully and quietly approaching the sleeping bear cub, the hippo had lifted the infant grizzly over his head and sprinted out of the cave before being spotted by either of its parents. But unfortunately for Murray, the mother had just returned to guard the cave entrance...and roared out angrily after seeing her baby in his glove covered hands!

"Oh, crap!" The hippo cried out, shocked that the mother bear had returned to protect her home...and scared for his life after she stood up on her hind legs and roared incredibly pissed!

"Gotta go!" He added before running as fast as his legs could go...with the enraged female grizzly giving chase right behind him!

Murray had panted heavily while running as fast as he could...while glancing back to see if the cub's mother was still behind him...and his eyes widened witch shock as she was gaining on him! But to his great relief, he made it back to town and at the exact moment he was near the locked up hand car...he tossed the 2nd cub in order for it join his sibling before jumping on a trampoline and landing safely on the roof of a cold storage warehouse. After getting at a safe place where the mother grizzly couldn't reach him, the hippo had glanced back to see the two cubs fighting after he placed the second one to join its sibling and to his amazement, the female grizzly freed the two cubs from their small 'prison' with one single slash with her front claws!

After being freed by their mother, the two cubs had ended their little scrap and followed her back into the wilderness. Murray had gave a deep sigh of relief, as the mother grizzly had completely forgot all about him and simply led her children back to their cave him.

"Okay...I'm never doing **that** again. But at least that hand car is free...that's what matters." The hippo stated while wiping a large amount of sweat off his mask covered forehead, but was glad that his hard work paid off: as the mother grizzly had freed her cubs and unlocked the hand car, just like Bentley predicted!

After leaping down from the storage warehouse, Murray had returned to the safe house where Sly, Bentley and Neyla were relieved to see their hippo friend and teammate still in one piece while congratulating him on a job well down, as they now had the means to catch up with and board Iron Horse 3. Knowing it was now his and Neyla's turn out in the field, the raccoon and his tigress lover had exited the hideout and headed out into the wilderness to locate their RV point. After Iron Horse 2 had drove by past town, the two lovers had followed the tracks leading up to the second cabin, where Sly had obtained his Sleeping Box gadget...and spotted the RV point on the roof! After making swift work of another Mountain Goat and Canadian goose guard sitting near the campfire close to the cabin, the raccoon and his tigress jumped/climbed up onto the roof of the cabin where Sly pulled out his Binocucom and contacted Bentley.

"Sly, the second Iron Horse train is coming too fast. You and Neyla might not have time to jump aboard!" The turtle stated while he and the two lovers spotted the 2nd locomotive approaching at an incredibly fast speed as it rolled through town.

"Relax Bentley, there's more than one way to climb on board that caboose." The raccoon friend stated casually, claiming that he and Neyla would find an alternate way of boarding Iron Horse 2 before they broke contact.

"Ready babe?" Sly asked while turning to his tigress with a soft smirk, which Neyla mirrored with her own, showing she was indeed ready.

"Born ready love, let's do this." His feline lover answered before she and her raccoon shared a quick sweet kiss before jumping off the roof of the cabin.

As soon as the raccoon had broke contact with his turtle friend, Iron Horse 2 had rolled on by, much to their surprise and knew they had to move fast before the locomotive reached the tunnel across the river from the bear cave. Just as the caboose was about to pass, the two lovers had timed their jump perfectly and latched onto a pipe dangling between the final train car and caboose: Sly hooking his cane and Neyla lassoing her whip around the pipe. After the two lovers climbed up to the latch on the caboose, they dropped down and infiltrated the locomotive.

Once aboard the train, the raccoon and tigress had worked their way to the front of the train: quickly defeating the two Moose guards in the first car, with Sly putting them to sleep with his Music Box gadget and knocking them out separately with his stealth slam. After the first car was cleared, the two lovers had skillfully evaded the floor lasers and search light, while timing their jumps in complete sync with each other to avoid being shot at by the lights or burned by the lasers. After getting past the security lights and lasers, the the raccoon and tigress had climbed a ladder up to the roof of the third train car...which was protected by two Mountain Goats and Canadian goose.

"Oh boys?" Sly called out in a teasing voice, which earned a surprised look from the four guards before charging in to attack the raccoon and his tigress!

"Have a nice trip." Neyla added jokingly after her raccoon with a smug grin...as the battle between the four brainless goons would be short and quick.

The raccoon had charged up his cane, preparing for the spinning attack and struck the Goat and Goose guards charging in to attack him directly in their faces! Right after the first two guards were sent skidding back, Neyla was facing her own two targets: evading a left hook from a Goat, which ended up punching the second Goose guard in his face and knocking him out by accident! After the Goose was knocked unconscious by his fellow idiot cohort, the tigress had lassoed her whip around the Goat's waist and with a sharp twist, sent him spinning off the train! While battling his opponents, Sly had performed and landed a direct hit with his spinning dive move technique: striking the Goose he was battling in the face with a spinning blow from his cane and knocking him the train as well!

After the first Goose and Mountain Goat guards were defeated, the two lovers had made swift work of the remaining two: Sly landing a downward blow with his cane before activating his High Voltage gadget, paralyzing the unlucky goat before he collapsed flat on his back unconscious and Neyla delivering a swift blow from her whip, striking the remaining Goose across his face...and sent him flying off the 2nd Iron Horse train! As soon as the guards were defeated, the two lovers had slipped by the two Moose guards patrolling the fourth train car by putting them to sleep with Sly's Music Box gadget. Once the two goons were sound asleep, the raccoon and his tigress had sneaked past the next two trains cars: evading the floor lasers in the 5th car and putting the three Moose guards protecting the 6th car to sleep with the Music Box gadget.

Once they casually walked past the sleeping guards, the two lovers had used the same method to sneak past the three remaining Moose guards in the 7th and final train car: luring them together in the center of the car by using the Alarm Clock and putting them to sleep with the Music Box. After walking past the useless guards that he just put to sleep, Sly and Neyla smiled as they approached the engine...and the Clockwerk Part that was used to fuel it, which the raccoon swiftly snatched away from the still burning furnace!

"This was much too easy Ringtail." The tigress stated before she and her raccoon lover embraced after obtaining their prize, showing she was thrilled they had scored the 2nd Lung and disappointed that the guards protecting hadn't provided them a worthwhile challenge.

"True, but what matters is that we got what we came for my beautiful tigress. But hopefully, the 3rd and final Iron Horse train will be more challenging than #2." Sly stated, agreeing with his tigress that stealing the 2nd Lung was far too easy and hoping that Iron Horse 3 would give them more of a challenge before departing the locomotive with their prize!

"Fantastic! We're raking in the Clockwerk Parts, left and right!" Bentley cried out through the team's ear radio, amused by how they were obtaining the Clockwerk Parts with extreme ease while congratulating his raccoon and tigress teammates on obtaining the second Clockwerk Lung and destroying the 2nd Iron Horse train!

After Sly and Neyla made their way back to the safe house, Bentley and Murray had congratulated the raccoon and his tigress lover for acquiring the 2nd Lung and taking out Iron Horse 2...while also making snide remarks about how pissed Bison must've been after hearing that he lost another locomotive and part of the ancient owl. After placing the second Lung in the team van with the other Parts, the raccoon and his friends had decided to turn in for bed much early as tomorrow was the day when they would go after Iron Horse 3 and steal the Stomach.

But what they didn't know...was that their plan to steal Bison's third Clockwerk Part would have an unexpected event...just like back in India.

 **A/N: There it is everyone, the 2nd half to He Who Tames the Iron Horse. I would like to apologize to my reviewers and fellow Fanfic authors for the long wait. I know that I promised to have this chapter posted by the beginning of September, but I was preoccupied with spending time with parents and friends. I've also been struggling with incredibly hard shifts at work and finding the time to work on my Fanfic stories. The Operation: Choo-Choo chapter will posted some time next weekend, I promise.**

 **Until next time, be sure to read and review. Bye.**


	21. Operation: Choo-Choo

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any of its characters, except my OC**

 **A/N: Hello everyone, here is the chapter to Operation: Choo-Choo as promised. There will be a slight twist to the chapter, where Sly and Neyla have an unfortunate run-in with a certain corrupt vixen as they board Iron Horse 3 to steal the Clockwerk Stomach. Please sit back and enjoy.**

 **Reviews and comments will be appreciated**

 **Chapter 21: Operation: Choo-Choo**

After morning had arrived, Sly and his friends gathered around the briefing table eating breakfast while Bentley was putting together a slide show presentation on how they would sneak aboard the third and final Iron Horse and steal the Clockwerk Stomach. As Neyla and Murray had sat patiently for their turtle friend to begin the slide show, her raccoon lover handed out three coffee mugs filled with hot chocolate which the tigress, turtle and hippo happily accepted while placing a fourth for himself as last night was much colder than the night before.

"Alright you guys, this is it. Time to break in Iron Horse #3 and carry away the Clockwerk Stomach!" Bentley stated, informing his friends/teammates that they would board the third locomotive and acquire the third organ of the robotic owl from Jean Bison while presenting a slide of the final Iron Horse train. Written across the slide was the name of their operation, which...Sly, Neyla and Murray couldn't help but snicker after reading it, Operation: Choo-Choo.

"Now the train is moving too fast for any of us, especially Sly and Neyla to sneak aboard through town...so we'll need to catch up with it by using Murray's new hand car." The turtle started off, explaining that Iron Horse 3 was traveling much faster than the previous two locomotives and would be impossible for even his raccoon and tigress friends to jump aboard by using the tight ropes, rooftops or cable lines throughout the small town and how they would be using the newly unlocked hand car to catch up with it. He had also presented two separate slides: one of the 3rd Iron Horse train and one of the handcar, with a circle drawn around it in yellow marker.

"Once we're in position, Sly and Neyla well climb aboard and work their way to the engine." He continued, stating that once they were close enough to the caboose, how the two lovers would have to infiltrate the locomotive and fight their way up to the engine, while presenting a slide of the caboose to Iron Horse 3 with an arrow drawn over it: as if representing jumping over and climbing down the roof of the caboose.

"While they travel through the interior, I'll provide air support with my RC chopper." Bentley added, stating that while his raccoon and tigress teammates work their way through laser security and guards station on board the locomotive, he would provide aerial support with his newly repaired RC chopper.

"I've planned this as a textbook train robbery. If we all do our jobs right, what could possibly go wrong?" The turtle concluded, ending the presentation while classifying their operation as a modern day train robbery and stating that hopefully nothing would as they attempted to obtain the Stomach.

As soon as the presentation ended, Sly and his team exited the safe house and approached the newly unlocked hand car near the train station...which was when Iron Horse 3 had rolled on by at an insanely fast speed!

"Whoa, you weren't kidding Bentley. That **is** fast!" The raccoon stated, as he and Neyla stared surprised by how fast the third and final locomotive was traveling...as it literally passed through town in a matter of seconds!

"Hop aboard you guys...we've got a train to catch." Murray stated while instructing his friends/teammates to climb on the hand car so they could catch up with the third Iron Horse train!

Once they climbed aboard the old hand car, the hippo had literally drove the trolley right after the locomotive, lifting the walking beam up and down at a fast rate. After ten minutes of pumping the old western hand car, the raccoon and his team had caught up with and were right behind Iron Horse 3!

"Very impressive Murray. We had no idea you'd be able to catch up that old locomotive so easily!" Neyla stated, as she was mightily impressed by how strong the hippo's muscles were as they caught up with the train right after it drove through town.

"Thanks Neyla. There's one thing...you should remember: that "The Murray's" strength has...no limit." Murray replied while taking in soft breathes to control his breathing, as he continued to pump the walking beam all on his own and stating how he had 'unlimited stamina'.

"You and Neyla are on Sly. Break into that train and steal the Clockwerk Stomach." Bentley stated, while instructing his raccoon and tigress teammates that it was all up to them to steal and obtain Bison's third Clockwerk Part: the stomach of the robotic owl.

"That Jean Bison's one strange guy. The Klaww Gang divides up the Clockwerk Parts and he chooses to walk away with the Stomach and Lungs? It still creeps me out!" Sly replied softly, finding it odd that of all the parts of the robotic owl who haunted his family line since ancient Egypt, that Bison took possession of the Lungs and Stomach.

"I agree with you my love. There were other better Parts of the old bird for him to use for his schemes and yet, for some odd reason he choose the Stomach and Lungs." His tigress lover stated softly, agreeing with her raccoon that it was complete strange of all the Clockwerk Parts for the red furred bovine to walk away with: he choose those three organs.

"Do you guys think you could get creeped out later...when we're not riding an antique hand car at a breakneck speed?" His turtle friend asked while begging them to jump over to the locomotive...as the front left wheel squeaked loudly and sparks began to flicker as Murray continued to pump the rustic beam controlling the car!

"Good point. It's time for a train robbery." The raccoon replied, as he knew his friend was right and had snapped his thoughts back to the task at hand before he and his tigress had attempted to jump over to Iron Horse 3.

After timing the moment perfectly, Sly had gone first: jumping over the railing and latching his cane onto the ladder welded int the rear end of the caboose. Once her raccoon had crossed over safely, Neyla had attempted the same fate perfectly...especially with her lover holding out his hand and pulling her up behind him as they climbed up and jumped down the latch, entering the train! Shortly after they entered the 3rd and final Iron Horse train, the two lovers had worked their way up to the engine: sneaking past the two Moose guards stationed inside the first car by putting them to sleep with Sly's Music Box gadget and crawling underneath the floor lasers guarding the second train car.

However...what the raccoon and tigress spotted as soon as they exited the luggage car nearly made their hearts stop: Jean Bison himself, pacing back and forth in the third car! But thankfully, they naturally pressed their back on their side of the threshold: so the red furred bovine didn't see them as he was facing the door. As soon as Bison turned his back to walk towards the opposite end...that was when Sly contacted Bentley to inform him of this shocking turn of events.

"Bentley...we've got a slight problem." The raccoon stated softly into his ear radio, while secretly glancing through the glass and saw that Bison was at a far enough distance to not hear their conversation.

"What's the matter Sly? Did you and Neyla run into trouble?" The turtle asked, surprised after hearing his raccoon friend and leader reporting that he and his tigress had ran into a complication during the heist!

"You don't know the half of it...Bison is here, on **this** train!" Sly answered softly, while he and Neyla glanced at each other as Bison had stopped to look out the window, whilst hoping he hadn't heard him and Bentley talking...before he turned around and continued pacing back and forth.

"He's on Iron Horse 3?!" Bentley cried out shocked while Murray stared wide-eyed, as they couldn't believe that the red furred bison was on the locomotive themselves: guessing he was no doubtingly there to guard and protect the Stomach himself!

"Yeah...but Sly and I think we can slip undetected by walking alongside the windows outside the third car. He's only focusing his eyes on the front/back doors...so we should be able to sneak past him with no problem." Neyla answered through her line, stating that she and her raccoon could sneak past Bison by sidling alongside the windows and how the red furred bison's eyes were only focused on the doors...which meant they could hopefully sneak past undetected.

"Alright guys. Stay safe and be sure to call if you need me to send the RC chopper." Their turtle friend stated, wishing them luck with their plan to get past Bison and reminding them to contact him if they needed aerial support.

After breaking contact with Bentley, the two lovers had silently crept alongside the right side window of the passenger car Bison was guarding and thankfully...the Old Western buffalo hadn't didn't notice them: as his eyes were glued directly to the doors parallel to the car. But as they walked alongside the glass, Sly an Neyla heard Jean Bison mumbling to himself.

"Ain't nobody getting past me. That there Clockwerk Stomach is as safe as a snowman in winter. I'd like to meet the varmint that's been looting my Iron Horse trains. By Jiminy, I'd get hooked just by thinking of cutting that boy open! I'd kill him like a spotted owl, I sure would." The red furred bison spoke to himself while pacing back and forth in the car: claiming that no one would get past him or getting anywhere near his third Clockwerk Part while fantasizing about eviscerating the person or people responsible for stealing the Lungs and destroying two of his precious locomotives!

 _'In your dreams...jackass.'_ Sly mentally countered, as he and Neyla merely shook their heads while not believing that Bison didn't even notice them whenever he turned around as he continued pacing up and down the third car.

As soon as they made it safely over to the opposite side of the car, the raccoon had allowed his tigress to climb up the ladder to the fourth train car...which was when something completely unexpected shortly happened. As soon as Neyla had climbed up the roof and offered a hand to help her raccoon lover...they had glanced upward as they spotted an orange/white painted attack aircraft firing laser right at them!

"Neyla, watch out!" Sly cried out, as he and his lover had jumped off the ladder and car just in time...and glared hatefully at the pilot operating the aircraft: Carmelita!

"Hey Cooper! Knew I'd find you and your bitch girlfriend way out here after I captured your fat hippo friend! Just can't stay away from these Clockwerk Parts, can't you?" The corrupt vixen called out with a dark smirk on her face, while feeling somewhat annoyed that she had missed her two targets as she piloted Interpol's newly purchased attack aircraft!

"We don't have time for you bitch!" Neyla shouted back with great ire showing in her eyes and voice: glaring hatefully at the corrupt vixen as she had the nerve to shoot at her and Sly from her aircraft and annoying habit of interfering in their heists to steal the Clockwerk Parts!

"My friends and I are doing this to make sure that Clockwerk never comes back to life Carmelita!" Her raccoon lover shouted back with the same hateful glare towards the vixen, also annoyed that Carmelita would stoop so low to prevent them from destroying the remains of his family clan's ancient rival and enemy!

"Too bad you will never get the chance Cooper! Once I kill you and that bitch tigress...I'm going after the rest of your team." The fallen and disgraced vixen countered, vowing to make sure that the two lovers wouldn't get past her and steal the remaining parts of the ancient owl so they could destroy them.

"Bentley...Carmelita has me and Neyla pinned down. Any chance for air support?" Sly stated into his radio, informing his friend and tech support that a certain corrupt vixen had just shown up and requesting help from his RC chopper.

"It's already airborne buddy. She won't know what hit her!" The turtle answered back, stating that the chopper was on its way and how Carmelita would be in for one hell of a surprise!

"C'mon Cooper! You or your bitch, Neyla don't want to play?" The vixen called out with a dark smile, daring either Sly or his tigress to climb back up the ladder and face her...and unexpectedly lunged forward after the back of the engine was hit!

"What the hell?!" She cried out in shock before Bentley's RC chopper had fired another well placed shot: damaging the turbine to the right engine!

"Alright turtle! You want to play with me? Then let's play!" Carmelita called out as she glanced behind to see the turtle's remote control drone flying right behind her and decided to destroy it as a warm up for her real targets: Sly and Neyla!

The dogfight between Bentley's RC chopper and the corrupt vixen's aircraft was a truly unexpected, but heated aerial battle: as the turtle had masterfully piloted his chopper to avoid Carmelita's laser fire as she strafed left/right! The two lovers had been witnessing the 'dogfight' between their turtle friend's chopper and Carmelita's aircraft...and slightly winced as they could see multiple sparks shooting out of the smaller aircraft as it attempted to dodge the relentless bombardment of laser fire!

"C'mon Bent. You can do this." Sly muttered softly, hoping that their friend's RC chopper could win this battle...as the left engine to Carmelita's aircraft had caught on fire after releasing a relentless bust of fire in retaliation!

"He can do this, love. That bitch's aircraft can't take that much damage." Neyla stated softly, reassuring her raccoon that Bentley and his RC chopper could beat Carmelita, as the smaller aircraft was not that badly damaged...whilst the vixen's couldn't maintain balance in the air!

Meanwhile back in the air, the turtle had skillfully piloted his chopper to avoid the bi-planes that Carmelita had released from two compartment's underneath the left/right engines and easily destroyed the drones while avoiding explosives that the corrupt vixen had thrown, hoping to destroy the small aircraft...but missed as Bentley evaded each explosive she threw towards his chopper! The battle was soon over...as the chopper had released three well placed bursts of fire towards the vixen's greatly damaged aircraft: as the right engine and both wings were now on fire!

"You lousy four-eyed amphibian nerd! I'll get you!...What?! No, NO!" Carmelita screamed out at the top of her lungs, not believing that she lost to a measly RC toy before losing control of her assault aircraft!

"That was some incredible flying Bentley! Neyla and I never had any doubt." Sly stated into the team ear radio, complimenting his friend/teammate's piloting skills as they still couldn't believe who the victor of the aerial battle was!

"Bentley...you just became my second favorite person on the team." Neyla added, also complimenting their turtle friend on his fancy flying skills with the RC chopper.

"Well, shucks...I'm happy to help. Beside's we're more than just a team...we're a family." Bentley stated softly, as he was flustered after receiving such a compliment from the tigress and pointed out that the four of them weren't just friends...but were also family.

"Sly? I don't mean to rush you and Neyla...but guys better hurry and reach the Clockwerk Stomach fast. This old hand car is starting to fall apart!" Murray stated shortly after his raccoon and tigress friends complimented Bentley's RC piloting skills, revealing that the hand car was about to break apart due to the wheels starting to squeak more loudly and sparks were starting to fly out from underneath them!

"We're almost there Murray. It shouldn't take us much longer." The raccoon answered back, showing he and his tigress understood that they needed to hurry and reach the Stomach fast...while hoping that the hand car could hold out for a bit while longer!

Shortly after breaking contact with their turtle and hippo friends, the two lovers had immediately climbed back up the ladder and ran across the roof of the fourth passenger car...and also had an unfortunate run in with a small flock of hungry Canadian eagles swooping down directly at them! Once they got past the highly aggressive raptors, Sly and Neyla had made swift work of the two idiot Moose guards 'protecting' the flatcar up ahead: the raccoon defeating the first idiot lackey with a swift and shocking blow after activating the Voltage Strike gadget and his tigress lassoing her whip around the 2nd sleeping Moose's waist and sending him spinning off the train!

After the two idiot thug were defeated and seeing that the fifth passenger car was locked from the inside, the raccoon and his feline lover simply took the more 'scenic route': walking along the left side window, going completely unnoticed by the moronic guards station inside! Once they reached the end of the window, Sly and Neyla had latched their cane/whip around the hook ring and launched themselves forward to a pipe running underneath Iron Horse 3. After the short climb underneath the passenger car and latching their cane/whip around the next three hook rings, safely making it to the opposite side of the 5th passenger car...and immediately took out the single Moose patrolling the 2nd flatcar!

Shortly after the moronic lackey was dealt with, Sly and Neyla had proceeded to the 6th and final passenger, that was 'protected' by two remaining Moose guards...which they easily sneaked past after the crafty raccoon put them to sleep with Music Box gadget! After they casually walked past the sleeping and practically useless 'security'...the two lovers smiled brightly as they entered the front end of the locomotive and approached their prize welded to the furnace: the Clockwerk Stomach.

"I never thought I'd see the day where a stomach would be used as a tool of evil." Murray stated, as he still couldn't believe how Bison had managed to turn the Stomach of the ancient owl as an energy source to power the third and final Iron Horse train.

"Looks like Jean Bison wised up and bolted the Stomach down. We'll have to crack the engine block to get it free." His raccoon friend and leader stated, reporting that Bison had made a last minute precaution to protect his remaining Clockwerk Part: bolting the robotic organ to the engine so it couldn't be removed just like the Lungs.

"Then that's just what we'll do. A well placed bomb down the train's smoke stack will no doubtingly knock it loose." Bentley replied with the controls to his RC chopper in hand as he sent the drone out again to drop a bomb down the chimney to loosen the bolts securing the Stomach to the engine.

"Just make sure you and Neyla take cover." He added, advising his friends and teammates to keep at a safe distance once he dropped a bomb down the smoke stack.

But unfortunately...before he could even pilot the chopper anywhere near or directly above the chimney, an all too familiar and hated vixen had returned in her damaged attack aircraft for a rematch!

"Not so fast turtle! That Clockwerk Part is mine...all the Parts will soon be mine!" Carmelita shouted out, showing she refused to be defeated by a measly RC chopper that easily and being disillusioned with the idea that their's and the remaining Clockwerk Parts would soon be hers!

 _'Oh, you've got to be friggin' kidding me!'_ The turtle mentally shouted, not believing that the corrupt vixen had returned for a second round...but knew that defeating her was the only to get anywhere near the chimney.

The second aerial battle between Bentley's RC drone and Carmelita's heavily damaged, but still functioning aircraft was just as heated as their previous dogfight: both pilots shooting at each other while avoiding the other's laser rounds! The chopper had taken more damage this round than its previous battle: as the corrupt vixen had unleashed everything she had in her arsenal: laser fire, bombs and bi-plane drones in order to destroy the Cooper Gang's annoying RC chopper! But fortunately for Bentley...he had memorized the movements of the bi-planes and was able to evade them, while dodging the bombs as they hit nothing and delivering serious damage to Carmelita's barely functioning attack aircraft: as left engine had caught on fire! After evading and surviving her desperate onslaught...the turtle had unleashed a merciless burst of laser fire that severely damaged/destroyed the right engine!

"You, your pathetic gang and precious Neyla may have won this round, but this is far from over Cooper! Nothing will stop me from obtaining the Clockwerk Parts: not Interpol and especially not you lowlife bastards!" The fallen and corrupt vixen shouted out, begrudgingly accepting her defeat...and stating that what she truly had planned was far from over and that her scheme somehow involved all the Clockwerk Parts!

"I hope you and Neyla are at a safe distance Sly...this might be messy." Bentley stated over their team radios, hoping that his raccoon and tigress friends had gotten at a far enough distance before he dropped a single bomb down the smoke stack...and a loud explosion had erupted as fire had shot upward through the chimney, just like an erupting volcano!

"Sly! Neyla! Are you guys alright?!" The turtle cried out as he and Murray saw the explosion and fire/smoke erupting from the chimney...and they both mentally prayed that their friends hadn't been caught in the explosion.

But thankfully...both the raccoon and his tigress lover were perfectly safe and unharmed, as the explosion merely knocked the Stomach loose from the engine, just like they planned! The two lovers had walked up to claim their prize with Neyla being the one to carry the still functioning robotic organ.

"Neyla and I are here Bentley. We both have...an upset stomach on our hands, but besides that we're alright." Sly answered as he contacted his turtle friend, stating that he and his tigress were unharmed from the explosion, which earned a soft and relieved sigh from Bentley and Murray, as they thought they almost their raccoon and tigress friends. Neyla had also giggled softly at her raccoon lover's choice of words, as he reported they both had an 'upset stomach' on their hands.

"Ready to get off train beautiful?" The raccoon asked while turning to his feline lover, which earned a loving grin from the tigress as they locked lips in a sweet tender kiss.

"Sure am Ringtail. Let's get out of here before Bison and his remaining guards show up." Neyla answered, showing she was more than ready to get off Iron Horse 3 as they got what they came for and knew they needed to get off the train, as Bison had no doubtingly must've heard the explosion after Bentley's RC chopper dropped that bomb down the chimney.

Without wasting a second, as soon as the two lovers had leaped off the 3rd Iron Horse train, they had deployed their paragliders and landed safely on their feet in a remote part of the Canadian wilderness after disembarking the out of control locomotive! Sly and Neyla didn't need to worry about Bentley and Murray catching up to them...as they heard loud screeching swiftly approaching and spotted their friends on board a now completely inoperable and wrecked hand car!

"Oh my gosh!" Neyla cried out, as she covered her mouth in horror as soon as she and her raccoon spotted the hippo and turtle riding the wrecked hand car and know had no means of controlling it!

"Murray, Bentley! You guys have to jump!" Sly cried out, as he stared shocked along side his tigress and told them they needed to jump off the useless and wreck hand car...and prayed they wouldn't die after they jumped!

Knowing that their raccoon friend was right, as jumping off the wrecked mining car was their only means of staying alive...the turtle had climbed up on his hippo friend's back as Murray leaped off the hand car and to Sly's and Neyla's delight: they both made it safe and sound on the frigid snow covered soil!

"Thank God you guys made it!" The raccoon stated as he and his lover ran up to their friends and embraced them in a friendly hug, showing they were happy and relieved that they were able to jump off the totaled hand car as it continued racing down the tracks...before it flew off and crashed right into the trunk of a tree, exploding into wooden splinters and metal fragments!

But that wasn't the only crash they had heard: as a much louder crash had echoed out...along with a deep western voice bellowing out "DANG NABBIT!" Sly and his team smiled as they already knew the source of the crash and voice shouting out: Iron Horse 3 flying off the tracks itself after they made off with the Stomach and imagining the pissed off look Jean Bison no doubtingly had on his after seeing his third and final locomotive destroyed right before his eyes!

"Can you guys believe that we just scored 3 Clockwerk Parts off the same mark?" Bentley asked friends/teammates as he still couldn't believe they had made with three Clockwerk Parts while Dimitri and the Contessa merely made off with one part of the ancient owl!

"How pissed do you guys think Bison must be after we took out all three of his trains?" Murray asked, as he wished they could see the angered look the red furred bison had on his face as they destroyed all three of his beloved locomotives!

"Oh, he's very pissed big guy...especially since we just practically put an end to the Klaww Gang's spice shipment operation throughout North America!" Neyla answered with a huge smile on her face while revealing they had also literary ended the Klaww Gang's spice shipment's traveling across the US/Canadian border!

"Let's get back to the safe house, load the Stomach into the van and get outta here. It'll only a matter of time before Carmelita shows up again." Sly stated with the same smile on his face, showing he was very pleased with his team and himself as they had just put an end to the Klaww Gang's spice shipment operations throughout Canada and North America...and pointed out they needed to leave before the corrupt vixen arrived with the local police to try to arrest them.

Knowing their friend/leader was right, the four friends headed back to the small town through the wilderness: with the raccoon leading the way, with his lover right beside him as they held hands and Bentley and Murray taking the rear. After running/hiking through the freezing wilderness for half an hour, Sly and his team had made it back to town and immediately headed straight to the safe house. Once they made it to the hide out, the raccoon and his team had placed the Stomach in the back of the team van with the rest of Parts they had stolen, buckled up and drove out of the small town, headed for their next location.

 **A/N: There it is everyone, the ending to the Operation: Choo-Choo chapter! I apologize to my fellow fanfic authors and viewers for the long wait. I know I promised to have this chapter posted by the first week of October. I've just been going through a lot of rough and hectic work loads at the hospital where I work and spending quality time with my folks and friends. The next chapter, which will be the first half to Menace of the North will be posted some time next weekend, hopefully before Halloween. Until next time, have a good night.**


	22. Menace in the North, eh! Pt 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any its characters, except my OC**

 **A/N: Hello everyone, here is the 1st half to the Menace in the North chapter as promised. The job missions will be the same, with one slight difference: where Neyla and Murray team up to get information about the Northern Light battery. Sit back and enjoy.**

 **Reviews and comments will be appreciated.**

 **Chapter 22: Menace in the North, eh?, Pt. 1**

 _'Things just weren't right up in Canada: random acts of violence were just popping up like weeds and the Northern Lights..., well, they weren't right. One night they'd be bright than ever and the next...gone!'_ Sly mentally stated as he and his gang had noticed a number of strange events happening while still in Canada: how they spotted an orange rabbit punching a blue one right in the face for no apparent reason and the Northern Lights were acting strangely: one night they would be glowing abnormally and the next night, they had just vanished!

 _'Back in Nunavut Bay, Neyla and I overheard a speaker phone conversation between Jean Bison and his mysterious partner, Arpeggio. Somehow, those two are behind these strange events.'_ The raccoon added, as he and his tigress had been secretly listening to the highly important conversation between Bison and the founder of the Klaww Gang, Arpeggio as they had taken recon photos of the Iron Horse train routes and the two lovers both felt that the two remaining Klaww Gang members were no doubt responsible for the unexplained events.

 _'Tracking the source of the disturbances was rather easy: by simply following the Lights, we were led north to an immense lumber camp. The sight of all the sheer fallen trees practically advertised Jean Bison's presence...and that he was in possession of the Clockwerk Talons."_ Sly mentally continued, stating that he and his friends had simply followed the Northern Lights up north and stumbled upon a huge lumber camp in the center of the Canadian wilderness and the mere sight of all the fallen trees confirmed that it was the red furred bovine's handiwork..and how he had a secret Clockwerk Part in his possession!

 _'The Thievius Raccoonus makes numerous references to the Talons unnatural ability to slice through solid steel. A natural born lumberjack like Bison could clear an entire forest in a mere hour while wielding the artifacts.'_ The raccoon added, as he remembered reading a number of pages from his family clan's ancient book about the Talons: how they could slice plates of cold steel, solid rock and any other material like hot knives through butter and how the nature hating bison could deforest an entire forest with the Clockwerk Part without breaking a sweat!

 _'Those_ _Talons have got to go: both to finally be rid of Clockwerk and to save the environment from Bison's twisted sense of 'progress'. The world doesn't really need any more strip malls.' Sly_ concluded, as he knew that by stealing the Talons from Bison would be another step forward to putting an end to the ancient robotic owl and ending the bovine's unjustified hatred and 'war' against nature.

After setting up a safe house in an abandoned hut on a cliff overlooking the ocean, Sly and Neyla had exited the hideout to scout the area while Murray and Bentley were setting up the slideshow projector. But before the raccoon and his tigress stepped outside, Bentley had handed stopped them in order to give Neyla two customized ice picks, which confused the feline as she didn't understand why she needed them. Their turtle friend assured his tigress that he would explain once they stepped outside and the lovers had pulled out their own Binocucom once they stepped out the door.

"Okay, here's what we know. One: Arpeggio's blimp is on its way to pick up some sort of battery from Jean Bison and 2: the only way we'll ever get a shot at Arpeggio's Clockwerk Brain is to somehow find a way to infiltrate his blimp." The turtle stated while getting straight to the point as he and the two lovers went over the information they obtained as they had listened in to Bison's speaker phone conversation with the British parrot: how Arpeggio would be arriving to pick up a battery like device for his master plan and how they needed to find a way to sneak aboard the parrot's blimp in order to get a shot at Clockwerk's brain.

"But before we do that, we'll need to snag the Clockwerk Talons off Jean Bison first. Time is short and we have a lot to accomplish." Sly stated, as he and his team knew they were against the clock on a very small time table: how they needed to steal the red ruffed bison's fourth and final Clockwerk Part before Arpeggio's blimp arrived to pick up the battery by the end of the week...which was merely three days away.

"True, true...but first thing's first: this lumber camp isn't on any of my maps. I need you and Neyla to search the area and take some recon photos: they'll help to get my sensors oriented." Bentley replied, as he completely agreed with his friend and leader on how little time they had to prepare and plan on how to steal the Talons from Bison, since losing the Lung and Stomach, along with all three of Iron Horse trains had made the bovine more protective of his final Clockwerk Part. He had also asked his friends/teammates to take recon photos around the lumber camp, as he couldn't find it any of his maps.

"No problem Bentley. Sly and I will get you those you recon photos and...I'm pretty sure I have a good idea to why you can't find this lumber camp on your maps." Neyla answered, showing she and her raccoon would get their turtle friend the recon photos he needed and offered a theory to why he couldn't find the location of the camp on any of his maps.

"How do you mean Neyla?" The turtle asked, as he was curious by the theory his tigress friend had, along with her raccoon lover.

"Remember how you chaps didn't know about Rajan's second base of operations: the Spice Temple? You guys didn't know it existed because Rajan never had it listed as one of his properties. So Bison obviously did the same thing: he only listed his three cabins and trains as his main assets." The tigress answered by reminding her raccoon lover and teammates how they had no knowledge of Rajan's Spice Temple, because they thought that his ancestral palace was the spice dealer's only asset and how Bison must've followed the tiger's example.

"I'm thinking you're right Neyla." Sly stated, as he completely agreed with his feline lover's theory; since it made perfect sense to why their friend and tech support couldn't locate the camp on any map.

"She is right, Sly. I just went over the data on Bison's personal file off the flash drive...and the only assets he had listed were the three cabins he owned back in Nunavut Bay." Bentley stated as he had gone over all the info they had on the red furred bison which confirmed the tigress's theory: there was no information at all about the lumber camp on the flash drive.

"In anticipation of the freezing climate, I took the liberty of making a modification to your cane: which can now seperate into two smaller canes...which is ideal for ice climbing. You can test it out by climbing to the top of that sheet of ice near the hideout." The turtle added, revealing that he had made a modification to his raccoon friend's family cane: which could split into two smaller canes that could be used for ice climbing!

"So that's why you gave me these ice picks. Thank you Bentley." Neyla stated with a small smirk, as she immediately understood why Bentley gave her the ice picks: to climb up walls of sheer ice like her raccoon.

"You're welcome Neyla and there's one last thing: there are still some grizzly bears in the area, but if you and Sly don't provoke them, they won't attack you guys." Her friend stated with a soft smile and warned them ahead of time about any remaining grizzly bears in the area: as he remembered how upset both the raccoon and tigress were at him for not checking ahead of time back in Nunavut Bay.

"Thanks for the tip, Bent. We'll be sure to steer clear of the grizzlies while out in field." Sly stated as he and Neyla nodded their heads in approval, thanking their friend for checking for any bears ahead of time and they also made sure to avoid the Canadian eagles, as they spotted several flying above the safe house and steep hill...which was where their RV point was!

After breaking contact with Bentley, the two lovers had ran across the frigid snow covered cliff where their hide out was and jumped after nearing the ledge...they had performed a Ninja spire jump while drawing out their newly acquired ice climbing gear: Sly's cane separating into smaller canes and Neyla taking out her new ice picks, which dug deep into the frozen solid wall of ice! Once the tips of their new wall climbing hooks/picks had latched onto the ice, the raccoon and his tigress scaled up the sheet of ice, while ignoring the incredibly freezing feeling of the ice and snow against their knees as they climbed up the hill. After they reached the top of the hill, Sly had made swift of a Mountain Goat guard that was admiring the beautiful scenery with a power blow from his cane with a charged spinning attack, knocking the unsuspecting guard off the hill!

Once the Mountain Goat guard was dealt with, the two lovers had approached the RV point and spotted four markers scattered throughout the area. Knowing they needed to split up to take the recon photo's Bentley needed to help pinpoint their location, Neyla had volunteered to scout the main field and Sly headed out to the main sawmill, which was the main center of Bison's lumber jacking operation. Before they separated, the raccoon and tigress agreed to meet regroup by the small dock that was close to a fishing boat out on the ocean and shared a sweet kiss, before going their separate ways.

After she and her raccoon landed safely off the hill, Neyla had skillfully avoided a Moose and another Mountain goat walking underneath a chute that was connected to a building that was also used to saw the chopped trees that Bison and his lackeys had cut down. Once she sneaked past the dimwitted goons, the tigress had killed some spare time to collect a decent amount of clues Bentley no doubtingly needed to help her raccoon break into Bison's second safe while. As she searched for the open field for clues, she had taken photos of two main objects of interest: one of the three boats out on the ocean and of a grizzly bear minding its own business out in the field.

"Interesting...my sensors are picking up a Wi-Fi link to that boat! It must be operated by computer." Bentley stated surprised, as his own laptop and high end equipment had detected an internet connection to all three of Jean Bison's charter boats!

"This place is bear country alright. Wait a second...that's odd, he's emitting a small radio signature." The turtle stated after observing how peaceful and calm the adult grizzly was as it walked around the field...and noted it was somehow letting off a radio frequency!

 _~Meanwhile with Sly~_

After he and Neyla separated to cover more ground and take the recon photos faster, the raccoon had skillfully avoided being spotted by the idiot Moose guards by either climbing up the poles and walking along the wires or putting them to sleep his Music Box gadget. He also helped himself to whatever valuable loot the idiot goons had on them after putting them to sleep: making off with 4 gold bars, 3 medium sized silver necklaces and 3 medium sized gold nuggets! After climbing up two bare leafless trees that was still standing to reach two separate ledges, Sly had taken photos of the two remaining objects of interest: the saw blades of the main mill and Jean Bison's personal house, after climbing to the roof of the mill by using the hooks and cables dangling underneath.

"Those saw blades look particularly old. I guess this camp has been around for a while." Bentley stated after carefully observing and spotting traces of rust on the saw blades, which indicated that Bison must've set the lumber camp shortly after he thawed out from his icy prison.

"It wouldn't take a genius to realize that's Jean Bison's house...especially the wooden crafted buffalo head is dead give away." He plainly stated after his raccoon had safely climbed up the roof of the saw mill, as the crafted buffalo head outside the huge cabin obviously belonged to the red furred bovine!

"That's great field work Sly. Now, for the real point of interest: you and Neyla should head for that lighthouse and find a way to sneak in." The turtle stated, thanking his raccoon and tigress friends on their exceptional field work and instructed them to head for the light house: as it was the main landmark that really stood out besides Bison's house and sawmill.

It hadn't taken the two lovers long to meet up: as they evaded the brainless Moose, Canadian Geese and Mountain Goat guards, along with the grizzly bear by walking along the power cables or hitching a ride from the huge floating pieces of ice, traveling down a small river leading straight to the ocean and arrived at the small dock near the boat Neyla had photographed. After Sly and Neyla had arrived at the rendezvous point together, they spotted a number of logs and pieces of ices floating out in the ocean, which were ideal to reach the light house. As they crossed the ocean by jumping from one floating piece of ice to the next and walking across the logs...both the raccoon and tigress couldn't help but gasped while shivering, as they felt the freezing sea water on their exposed ankles until they reached their destination and immediately found a means of sneaking inside: a hole in the back of the lighthouse.

After letting raccoon crawl through the small space first in the back of the lighthouse, Neyla had followed right behind Sly and the two lovers found themselves behind a storage booth, which Bison had obviously used to store extra logging equipment for his lackeys: handheld axes and power saws to cut through the dense bark of the remaining trees still in the forest. And speaking of Bison...the raccoon and his tigress had spotted him pacing back and forth in front of the main entrance to the lighthouse, which he had locked by using an ordinary chair and and up a staircase. Thanks to the piled crates and boards hiding them, Bison never the two lovers knew they were behind the storage booth as they pulled out their Binocucoms and took recon photos of the three main objects of interest: the front door, battery charge to the Northern Light battery and spinner circling around the center of the ground floor at an insanely fast rate.

"Huh, you'd think Bison would try a less obvious method of locking a door. A simple whack from your cane or Neyla's whip should get rid of it." Bentley stated with a dry tone, indicating he couldn't believe that the red furred bison would use a rather simple way to barricading a door, with the Talons attached to his walking staff!

"...At least he gets points for originality." His tigress friend muttered softly, while bringing up Bison's old antiquity mind: which explained why he would use a rather simple and pathetic method to keep intruders out.

"Just looking at that spinner makes dizzy." The turtle stated plain and simple, as Sly had a rather difficult time himself trying to snap a picture of it due to it spinning insanely fast!

"Yeah, no kidding." Sly stated sarcastically, as the spinner moving at that speed made it **literally** impossible for him to snap a photo of it!

"There's the battery charger...but where's the battery that Arpeggio's coming to pick up?" Bentley stated, after identifying the red glowing device above the spinner as the charger to the Northern Light battery and wondered where the battery itself was, along with friends and teammates.

"You guys might as well take a photo of ol' Jean Bison." He stated plain and simple, requesting either the raccoon or tigress to take a recon photo of the red furred bovine, which Neyla instinctively did.

"Let's head on back to the hideout babe..." Sly stated after he and his tigress took the needed recon photos, before being stopped by his feline lover.

"Wait, Sly. I think Bison is talking to himself." The tigress replied, informing her raccoon lover that the red furred buffalo was mumbling something to himself...which would've been worth listening to: hoping he would slip up and mention the where about's of the battery.

Knowing his Neyla was right, since this would be the best opportunity to discover where he's hidden the battery that Arpeggio needed for his master plan, they pressed their ears against the wooden planks to hear whatever it was the bovine was mumbling to himself.

"Come on Jean, ya got it in ya. Those Lumberjack Games need some more competition, eh? What would attract the participants?" Bison mumbled softly to himself, pondering what sort of attraction would lure in participants to compete in his so called 'Lumberjack Games'.

"Bulls-eye! I'll post the Clockwerk Talons as the trophy! That should bring in the competition...although who am I kidding, eh? I'm-a-gonna win just like every other year! Oh, its tough being this tough, it sure is, yeah." He stated, planning on making the Talons the trophy to give to the winner of his Lumberjack Games, which surprised the two lovers as they turned to each other surprised, with soft smirks on their faces!

"Bentley, did you get all that?" Sly asked, wondering if their turtle friend heard everything they did over the team ear radios.

"Indeed I did, Sly. You and Neyla should head on back to the safe house. We need to talk about these 'Lumberjack Games'." His friend and tech support stated, confirming that he heard everything that Bison said and instructed the two lovers to return to the hideout, to cook up a plan for the Lumberjack Games.

After crawling back outside, the raccoon and his tigress had jumped across floating pieces of ice and logs back to the dock near the lumber camp. Once they reached the camp, Sly and Neyla had ran into a small problem: after they had sneaked past a Moose guard crossing over the small wooden bridge leading to the main field, been spotted by a Mountain Goat who took his bugle which alerted all guards in the area...along with the grizzly bear that was not too far away! But thankfully, the grizzly had dealt with the idiot lackeys...as they completely forgot all about the grizzly and didn't expect it to come running as well! While the grizzly was clawing down the cowardly Moose, Goat and Geese guards, the two lovers had made a dash for the hideout before the bear caught their scent and went after them.

Once Sly and Neyla had made it back safe and sound to the safe house, Murray had offered his friends two mugs of freshly made hot chocolate which they happily accepted after handing Bentley the recon photos he asked for and after everyone was seated behind the briefing table, their turtle friend began the slideshow presentation.

"Jean Bison has unknowingly thrown down the gauntlet: with the Clockwerk Talons as a trophy, we'd be fools not to compete in his Lumberjack Games." Bentley started off, while still surprised at the fact how Bison would basically give his fourth and final Clockwerk Part as the trophy to his lumberjack competition! He had also displayed five slides: two of the red furred buffalo inside the lighthouse, one of him standing on three barrels on the ocean, one of him chopping through a wooden log and the final slide of a wall suitable for rock climbing.

"Fortunately, due to frequent avalanches, I've discovered something that could prove very useful to prepare: a log chopping guide frozen inside a block of ice not to far from our position. So Sly, you're in charge of acquiring the book." The turtle continued while revealing he discovered an ancient book to lumber jacking frozen in a block of ice not to far from the safe house and charged his raccoon friend with obtaining the book and displaying two slides: both of the block of ice with the log chopping guide inside...along with something else the whole team couldn't believe: a Woolly Mammoth!

"Now, we're all aware that Arpeggio's blimp is on coming to pick up the Northern Light battery. To sneak on board without drawing any unwanted attention, I suggest we pull a Trojan Horse and stow away inside the battery. However...the location of the device remains a mystery. We need some inside information." He continued, reminding his friends/team that Arpeggio's blimp was on its way to pick up the battery and explaining how their only shot at sneaking on board was by stowing away inside the device...except they had no idea where the battery was located!

"So working together, Murray and Neyla will infiltrate the Moose guard's secret RC combat club! Those guys work inside the lighthouse. If you win a fight, I'm sure the goons will talk." Bentley stated, instructing his hippo and tigress friends to pump several guards assigned to the lighthouse for information to locate the Northern Light battery, by competing in an RC combat club.

"Despite, his antique mind...Jean Bison is no fool, especially after we took his previous Clockwerk Parts and destroyed the Klaww Gang's spice shipping operation. In order for us to keep close tabs on him, we'll need to bug his house." The turtle continued, stating that even though Bison was rather 'old-schooled'...they needed to bug his house so they could prepare for the upcoming Lumberjack Games, while showing two separate slides: one the bovine inside the lighthouse and another of his personal house across from the main mill.

"Sly, you'll need to steal the radio tags off several local bears and plant them in specific locations in order to form a receiver array." Bentley added before giving off a deep sigh, as he was sending his friend and team leader into another bear cave...with a large number of grizzlies hibernating for the winter! He then displayed two separate slides: one was of two adult grizzlies sound asleep and the other was of the entire lumber camp with four stars drawn over four separate locations and lines connected: representing an antenna array.

"It's a challenging set of tasks...and that blimp is in its way. Let's get to work!" The turtle concluded, stating that their assignments would not be easy and they only had three days: today and Friday to be prepared for Saturday...which was the deadline for Arpeggio to pick up the battery while displaying two final slides: one of a Moose guard patrolling near his bosses's house and another Moose crossing the bridge from the main field.

After being given their field assignments, Sly, Neyla and Murray exited the safe house and headed out into the field, searching for their assigned RV points. It hadn't taken the raccoon long to locate his RV point: as it was on the roof of a small cabin near the bear cave and main saw mill. After climbing up an unattended truck with a bed truck carry the chopped logs, the crafty raccoon had ran up the chute while avoiding the logs and after he was close to the edge of the roof, he deployed his paraglider and landed behind a Goose guard overlooking the area around the mill. Due to the idiot goon completely unaware he was behind him, Sly had easily disposed the brainless bird: sending the Goose into the air with a swift 'uppercut' from his cane and slamming him down onto the snow covered roof! Once the useless lackey was unconscious, the raccoon had approached his RV point and took out his Binocucom to contact Bentley.

"The wild bears in the area have been tagged with radio tracking devices. If you can snag enough of them, we should be able to set up a receiver array around Jean Bison's house." His turtle friend stated, explaining the local grizzly bears had been tagged with radio transmitters and once removed, could be used to form a receiver array so they could listen in on Bison's telephone conversations from inside the hideout.

"I'm always up for bugging someone's home." Sly stated plain and simple, showing he was more than happy to set up a listen device in order for him and his team to be one step ahead of their mark.

"The first step is to crawl inside that bear cave and snagging the devices." The turtle instructed, advising his friend and team leader to crawl inside the bear den to steal the transmitter tags as they looked directly at the cave through the Binocucoms.

"I'm on it. I'll have those tags in no time." The raccoon stated casually, assuring his friend that he would obtain the transmitter devices with no problems before they broke contact.

After putting his Binocucom back in his leg pouch, Sly had leaped down from the cabin roof and approached the cave entrance, which had been blocked by frozen covered rocks and boulders. But fortunately for the raccoon, there was a small gap underneath the rocks/boulders large enough for him to crawl in and out of the bear den. Once inside the cave, he spotted a number of three grizzly bears sound asleep; possibly hibernating for the winter and pulled out his Binocucom, contacting Bentley for further instructions.

"The radio transmitters have all been tagged in their mouths. You'll have to sneak up and pick-pocket the tags while their yawning." The turtle stated, informing his friend that the only way to acquire the transmitters was by 'pick-pocketing' the receivers out of the bears mouths as they yawned.

"So...you're saying I have to snag those radio transmitters out of the bear's mouths as they yawn? Sounds 'safe' enough." Sly casually and sarcastically stated, showing he thought the idea of placing the hook end of his cane into six sleeping grizzly bears mouths seemed 'safe'...without them waking up and eating him for a hot lunch!

"Worried about the bears waking up Sly?" Bentley asked, as he could obviously tell that his friend was worried about the grizzles waking up as he attempted to swipe the radio tags.

"...Yeah." The raccoon softly confessed, showing that he was worried about just one grizzly waking up as he navigated the cave, which had thin ice littered throughout the cavern.

"There's nothing to fear buddy. Simply avoid the thin crackly ice and the bears will remain asleep." His turtle friend stated, assuring his friend and teammate that as long as he avoided stepping on the ice around the cavern floor, the bears would stay asleep.

 _'Otherwise...Neyla will kill me for sending Sly inside that cave.'_ He mentally added, while secretly hoping that the bears would stay asleep: since Neyla would **literally** kill him for sending her raccoon into a cave full of grizzly bears!

"Alright, I'll be outside with the goods in no time." Sly answered with a more relaxed and assured tone after learning that he simply needed to avoid stepping on the ice and would be outside with the transmitters in a few minutes.

After breaking contact with Bentley and withdrawing his Binocucom, the raccoon had immediately gone straight to work: leaping over the ice covered cavern floor towards the first sleeping grizzly, that fortunately opened its mouth to yawn and skillfully removed the radio transmitter out of the bear's maw as it continued to sleep peacefully. Once he obtained the first transmitter, Sly had easily navigated the cavern and gathered the remaining tags from the five other sleeping grizzlies: due to the crafty raccoon ninja spire jumping across the stalagmites and scaling the icy covered cavern walls with his new wall hooks. After he obtained the sixth and final transmitter, he climbed his way back to the cave entrance, crawled back outside and once again contacted Bentley through their Binocucoms.

"In order to form a receiver array, you'll have to place the radio transmitters in precise locations around Jean Bison's base of operations." The turtle stated, explaining to his raccoon friend that the only means to form the receiver array was by planting the transmitters in specific locations around the lumber camp and Bison's house.

"Alright, consider it done. How are Murray and Neyla doing on their end?" Sly stated firmly, showing he understood what he needed to do before and asked his friend on how Murray and Neyla were doing on their field job.

"They're just about to step inside the cabin where the Moose guards hold their RC combat club. Once Neyla acquires a disguise for Murray, I'll have her meet at your second RV point." Bentley answered honestly, informing his friend and leader that their hippo and tigress friends were about to enter the building where the Moose guard hosted their RC combat club and after Neyla helped Murray obtain a disguise to compete, he would send her to help him obtain the log chopping guide.

After they broke contact and he placed his Binocucom back in his leg pouch, Sly had went straight to work at placing the transmitters in the six different locations to form the array. The first location was conveniently near by the main mill: the water tower right next to it! Once the first transmitter was planted, the raccoon had planted the remaining five tags in their designated locations: a high mound in the main field in the center of the camp located, a tree located on a rock formation also located near the mill, a second water tower overlooking the ocean, the roof of a small cabin near the 2nd water tower and the final spot was directly on the roof of Bison's house.

"Nice work Sly. The array is up and running!" Bentley stated, congratulating his raccoon friend on a job well down as the array was functioning just like they planned!

 _~Meanwhile with Murray and Neyla~_

After the hippo and tigress had exited the safe house with Sly, the two of them had located Murray's RV point, which was located on a high slope near the main field. However, reaching the RV point had a rather small complication: once Murray and his tigress teammate ran/jumped up the slope, a wooden bathroom dunny nearby had exploded. revealing a Canadian Goose guard wielding a pick ax and small circular shield, protecting his left wing/arm! The Goose had squawked out loudly...but was immediately silenced after the hippo had performed and used his Berserk Charge: plowing and strike the Goose right in its chest. Once the Goose was knocked unconscious, Neyla had swiftly ended their fight for good: lassoing her whip around the Goose's stomach and with a swift twist of her wrist, sent the idiot birdbrain flying and crashing right next to the grizzly still awake!

Once the agitated bear gave chase to the unlucky guard that 'foolishly' intruded its personal space and attack any other foolish guards that caught the grizzly's eye sight, Murray and Neyla had both taken out their Binocucoms and contacted Bentley.

"Rumor has it that several off duty guards gather in that cabin to compete in a RC combat club." Their turtle friend stated, informing his hippo and tigress friends that several of Bison's Moose guards held an RC combat club inside the cabin they were glancing.

"This is going to be great! I haven't been in any RC combats ever since that job we pulled in Istanbul, it was awesome!" The hippo cried out overexcited, claiming he hadn't participated in any RC combat clubs ever since a heist they did in Istanbul!

"Job in Istanbul?" Neyla asked with an intrigued smirk on her face, as she found the idea of hearing all about the 'Istanbul job' from either Murray or her raccoon lover back at the safe house later amusing.

"Oh, believe me Neyla. You shoulda been there, Sly and I had the time of our lives!" Her hippo friend and teammate stated, revealing to the tigress that he and Sly had fun and a great time during the heist he was talking about back in Turkey.

"Um, Murray? Perhaps you could tell her about the Istanbul heist back at the hide out?" Bentley asked, reminding his friend that he was getting off track and that he could tell the tigress all about the Istanbul job at a more appropriate time.

"Oh, right...Right. Sorry." Murray stated a little sheepishly, embarrassed that he was letting a job they pulled off in the past distract him from his and Neyla's field mission and just as they were about to break contact, he was stopped by his turtle friend.

"Oh, and Neyla. I almost forgot: once you guys step inside and you obtain a disguise for Murray, be sure to meet Sly at his next RV point." The turtle added at the last minute, instructing the tigress to rendezvous with her raccoon lover to help obtain the log chopping guide.

"Consider it done. I'll be right there." Neyla replied, showing she understood that after she acquired a disguise for Murray to compete in the RC club, she was to join up with and help her raccoon obtain the old book before the three of them broke contact.

"Alright...ready to get going Neyla?" The hippo asked, turning to his feline partner and was answered with a firm nod.

"You bet Murray. The sooner we learn the location of this 'Northern Light' battery, the quicker we can board my dear old 'mentor' and 'master's' blimp." The tigress answered, showing her friend that she was indeed ready to get their field job ready and more importantly: put the screws to Arpeggio's secret grand plan.

Without wasting a second, the two friends had jumped from the slope and after leaping from pieces of ice floating the river underneath the bridge leading to the main field, they had approached and entered the cabin. Once inside, they were lucky that none of the Moose guards noticed them walk in and more importantly...Neyla spotted an appropriate disguise for Murray: an old moose head mask that was on the ledge of a control station overlooking the 'arena' for the RC combat drones to battle.

"Murray, you should hide out in this barrel. I'll get you that Moose head so you can get us the information we need about the battery." Neyla stated, asking her friend and partner to hide in the wooden barrel near the cabin door, so he wouldn't get spotted and to avoid getting into a fight with the Moose guards.

"Alright. But how are you planning on getting past most of the loser guards?" Murray asked, wondering how his feline friend planned on sneaking past most of the idiot guards preparing for an RC combat round.

"Let's just say that Sly loaned me something that'll...put these nitwits to bed." She answered cryptically, which earned an amused smirk from the hippo, as his raccoon friend's charismatic personality was starting to rub off on her.

Once her friend/teammate jumped into the barrel like she asked, the tigress had pulled out her secret weapon to get past the Moose guards: a number of Music Boxes that her raccoon lover had given her before they exited the safe house. After winding the gadget, Neyla tossed the Music Box into the center of the room, which served as the 'arena' for the RC combat battles and after the four Moose guards ran over to investigate...they slowly drifted off to sleep! Once the four idiot lackeys were sound asleep, the tigress had skillfully avoided the security lights, climbed up a pipe at the back of the room and over the fence that separated another room with a single Moose guarding it.

After deploying her paraglider and gliding directly behind the idiot lackey, whom was drifting in and out of consciousness, Neyla had crossed over a pit filled with large sized log grinders: latching her wall climbing hooks onto the hooks dangling over the pit and ninja spire jumping from a saw blade after landing on log dangling over the grinders. Once she was made it safely on the other side of the pit, the tigress had walked around two band saws over the main room of the cabin to small balcony connected to a glass walkway, which she crawled underneath while avoiding the saw blades surrounding her. After the saw blades, she latched onto another hook after reaching the end of the walkway and after swinging back and forth two-three times to wait for another Moose to doze off, Neyla sneaked past the idiot sleeping goon, climbed up a pipe and landed on top of another fence.

The tigress had proceeded to ninja spire jump across three more cranes and one last hook, before reaching her main destination: the control station overlooking the 'arena'. After tossing another Music Box, Neyla swiftly ducked underneath the tables on the control center as the Moose guard swiftly glanced around for the Music Box...before the clueless lackey fell asleep and ironically, collapsed onto a chair and leaned back against an unused computer console. After the Moose guard was sound asleep, the tigress chuckled softly at the sight of the thug sleeping against the console before approaching and picking up the moose head.

"Murray, head's up!" Neyla called out before tossing the moose head to her hippo friend and exiting the cabin, to work alongside her raccoon lover to acquire the log chopping guide.

"Thanks Neyla and good luck with helping Sly getting us that book!" Murray called back in return after catching the moose head and placing it over his own before thanking his tigress friend for getting him the disguise he needed to participate in the RC combat club.

'Alright...showtime!' The hippo mentally stated, as he was looking forward to humiliating one of the Moose guards in an RC drone battle, jumped out of the barrel and walked up the first idiot lackey right near the 'arena'.

"Hey there fella. Think you or your friend's can beat me in an RC combat battle? Maybe even put a bet on it?" He started off, greeting the goon and challenging him to an RC battle, while hoping he had the information he needed about the Northern Light battery.

"Oh I'm in, eh! I don't have a lot of money for this wager...but there's no way I'd lose to a new guy like you, huh." The Moose guard answered, showing he was game for an RC drone battle even though he was broke and had no way of paying if he lost.

Once the center of the room was cleared out, both Murray and the Moose guard were given hand held controls to an RC attack tank drone used in the combat club. After secretly receiving instructions from Bentley on how to operate the controls to the RC drone and past experience back in Istanbul, the RC combat battle was literally in the bag. The RC battle practically didn't last long: after being the order to begin, Murray fired two separate shots that knocked the guard's drone over on its right side, rendering it useless and destroyed it after firing four more times!

"You won, eh. But I ain't got any money to give ya." The Moose stated, admitting defeat to the disguised hippo and had no money to give him for winning the combat match.

"That might be okay...it all depends." Murray cryptically countered, showing he wasn't really interested in money and would take another form of payment instead.

"Depends on what?" The guard asked, wondering what it was the disguised hippo wanted from him.

"On whether or not, you know the location of the Northern Light battery." He answered, hoping the idiot lackey knew the exact location of the mysterious device.

"Oh, well...I guess I owe ya." The Moose answered hesitantly, not really comfortable with revealing the location of the battery his boss's boss was coming to pick up, but had no choice as he owed the disguised hippo something.

"You know that silo right outside this cabin?" He answered while asking the hippo if he or his teammates noticed the silo overlooking the sea and had a direct view of the lighthouse.

"Yeah? What about..." Murray began to ask...but stopped as his mask covered eyes widened in shock!

 _'You've got to be kidding me. It was right in front of me and Neyla and neither of us knew!'_ The hippo mentally stated, not believing that the battery was in front of him and his friends and they never realized it until know!

"Um, thanks for the info bud. I, uh...really gotta get goin'." He replied awkwardly while thanking the Moose for the information and sprinted outside, with the idiot guard scratching his head in confusion at how skittish the disguised hippo acted after learning the location of the battery.

"Man...Bentley, Sly and Neyla are never going to believe this." Murray muttered to himself after discarding his ridiculous moose disguise and sprinted back to the safe house, while glancing back at the silo containing the device Arpeggio was coming to pick up.

 _~Meanwhile with Sly and Neyla~_

Shortly after setting up the receiver array, the raccoon had reached his second RV point: the rooftop of a second sawmill near the 2nd water tower overlooking the ocean. Before he pressed the button to open the latch to the ventilation system, Sly simply smirked as he felt his tigress lover embracing him from behind after she completed her part in helping Murray acquiring a disguise to the learn the location of the Northern Light battery.

"Fancy meeting you here my beautiful tigress." The raccoon stated casually, flirting with his feline lover after he turned around to face her and was met with a sweet innocent kiss on his lips, which he returned.

"Same here Ringtail. I'm just so glad you made it out of that bear cave...other I'd strangle Bentley for sending in there." Neyla replied, smiling to see her raccoon still in one piece and was so relieved he came out of the bear cave alive...which kept her from killing their turtle friend for sending him into that bear den alone!

"As much as I would pay to see that babe, ready to head inside?" Sly stated while smiling, as he could only imagine the horrified look Bentley would have on his face while cowering from the look of death his tigress would be giving him if he hadn't made it out of that bear cave to get the radio transmitters for the array.

"Of course, my love. Let's get that book so we can get out of this bloody freezing weather." His tigress lover answered with a soft smile, before he opened the latch to the vents and they climbed down the ladder inside to enter the second mill. Once inside, the two lovers pulled out their Binocucoms and contacted Bentley.

"Sly, Neyla. I've detected what appears to be an ancient guide to log chopping that could prove useful for the Lumberjack Games. But unfortunately, it's frozen deep in a wall of ice." Their turtle friend stated, informing them that he located a book about lumber jacking frozen in a wall of ice, which the raccoon saw himself while taking a recon photo of the main mill and planting the radio transmitters.

"Well, how are we supposed to get at it? Wait for more global warming?" Sly stated, as he and his tigress knew that the log chopping guide could give them the edge they needed to score the Talons and jokingly asked if they should waited for global warming to melt the ice wall.

"Bison's men use that industrial laser to cut through petrified logs...and if you guys could redirect it out through the window, the raw heat from the laser should no doubtingly melt the ice and free the book." Bentley replied, explaining how Bison's men used the industrial laser right in front of them to cut through logs too hard to cut through and how the raw heat would melt the ice wall like a hot knife through butter.

"How do we redirect that thing?" Neyla asked as she and her raccoon had no idea on how to work the laser.

"There should be a switch on the other side of this wall. Throw it and then head outside." The turtle answered, explaining there was a switch to the laser on the other side of the room and would give his friends/teammates further instructions once outside before they broke contact.

After the raccoon and tigress put away their Binocucoms, they jumped across a pit filled with chopped burning logs, landed on a glass panel over the pit and sidled across the ledge, while skillfully avoiding the security lasers. Once the two lovers made it safely on the other side of the pit, they spotted two Moose guards patrolling in a small room...well, one was awake and his fellow lackey, was taking a nap! Sly and Neyla softly smiled and chuckled at the sight, especially since they spotted Bison's second safe near the back wall of the room and the raccoon had just the right gadget to put both idiot goons sound asleep. After tossing out a Music Box and witnessing the two Moose guards doze off to dreamland, the two lovers leaped down to the lower floor and approached the safe while avoiding the security light shining down over it.

"If I did my math right, and I **always** do my math right, then the combination has got to be...5-8-3." Bentley stated as he carefully studied all the clues that Sly and Neyla collected while out in the field.

Sly had punched in the numbers that his turtle friend suggested and opened the vault door. Inside the vault was a new gadget which was a powered up version of his Voltage Strike move: the Lightning Spin! He swiftly snatched the gadget and replaced it with his family clan calling card. The raccoon and his tigress had then climbed up a ladder to a wooden platform scaffolding, while carefully avoiding the floor lasers sweeping the floor. After they crossed over the other side of the platform, the two lovers had ninja spire jumped across a crane and some railings while swinging across hooks dangling over a second pit filled with burning logs and wood. They then ran across some band saws that were save for them to walk along once they stopped to recharge.

Once the two lovers made it to the parallel side of the room where the laser cutter was and her raccoon made swift work of the Moose guarding the switch with his stealth slam once his back was turned, Neyla flipped the switch: which lowered the grates blocking the vent and aimed the laser directly outside the sawmill.

"You guys did it: the laser is pointed directly out the window! Head outside and I'll fill you in on the second step to the plan." Bentley stated while congratulating his friends/teammates for redirecting the laser out the window and instructed them to head outside for further instructions.

After Sly and Neyla crawled out through the vent and climbed up the ladder back through the vent on the roof of the 2nd mill, they pulled out their Binocucoms and contacted their turtle friend for their new objective.

"Now, in order to get that laser pointed at the ice wall, you and Neyla will need to alter its direction with the special crystals I placed in your leg straps." The turtle stated, explaining to his raccoon and tigress friends that they would need to use the special crystals he provided the to redirect the laser towards the ice wall.

"I see. Neyla and I simply walk to where the laser stops, place a crystal and it'll beam the laser to a new position." Sly stated, as he and his feline lover understood what they needed to do in order to get at the log chopping guide.

"We'll have that log chopping guide in no time." Neyla stated, assuring their turtle friend that she and her raccoon would acquire the book in order for them to score the Clockwerk Talons before they broke contact.

Without wasting a second, the raccoon and tigress sprinted throughout the entire lumber camp, planting a crystal to redirect the laser towards the ice wall. After planting the last crystal, which was underneath claw like formed icicles near the the main sawmill, Sly and Neyla watched in amazement as the raw heat melted the ice and inside was a living breathing woolly mammoth...which didn't remain that way...as it charged right towards the ocean and ended up frozen again! But after swiftly recovering from the shock of seeing an actual living creature from the Ice Age, the tigress smiled as her raccoon lover had picked up their prize: the log chopping guide!

After Sly and Neyla arrived back to the safe house, Bentley and Murray congratulated them for obtaining the ancient book and more importantly, the hippo had gotten them the location of the Northern Light battery! The raccoon and his team had decided to call it an early night and headed to their own rooms to catch some much needed sleep: as they only had two days left to prepare for the Lumberjacks Games and before Arpeggio's blimp arrived to pick up the battery.

 **A/N: There it is everyone the 1st chapter to the Menace in the North episode. I would like to apologize to my reviews and fellow fanfic authors for the long wait. I know I promised to have the first chapter published by Halloween and last weekend, but I was just so preoccupied with spending time with my folks and my job in the kitchen at the hospital where I work that I've been struggling to find the time to work on it.**

 **The second chapter will be posted sometime before Thanksgiving, I promise. I'm also working on a new project: my very first Call of Duty fanfic based on video game Call of Duty: Big Red One. Until next time, bye.**


	23. Menace in the North, eh! Pt 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any of its characters, except my OC**

 **A/N: Hello everyone, here is the 2nd half to Menace in the North chapter as promised: where Sly and his team make the necessary preparations for the Lumberjack Games and to sneak into the Northern Light battery.**

 **Reviews and comments will be appreciated. Please sit back and enjoy.**

 **Chapter 23: Menace in the North, eh? Pt. 2**

Though morning had arrived, it was still partially dark as the sun was slowly rising. Sly and his friends also had a rough sleeping in their own personal quarters, due to the frigid weather being colder than Nunavut Bay and they struggled to stay warm during the night. Shortly after the raccoon his team were more awake and they gathered around the briefing table for a quick breakfast. While Bentley was setting up the slide show presentation, Sly had poured four mugs of freshly made hot chocolate and handed one to Murray and Neyla, which his hippo friend and tigress lover gladly accepted. He had also set the extra two mugs on the table: one for himself and one for Bentley.

As they waited for their turtle friend to begin the slideshow presentation, Neyla had asked Sly about the heist that he, Murray and Bentley had pulled off in Istanbul and her raccoon lover explained the story behind the Istanbul job: shortly after the defeat of Clockwerk back at the Krakarov Volcano back in Russia and reclaiming the final pages to the Thievius Raccoonus...along with leaving Carmelita handcuffed to a scaffolding in the crater of the volcano, Sly and his friends had laid low in Istanbul. After two days of laying low, Bentley found an article on the Internet about a high level criminal operating in Turkey, a Eurasian lynx named Serhan Bata whom dealt in stolen antiquities and jewelry, mainly from Egypt and India and how Bata had stolen an incredibly rare Indian treasure, a handheld treasure box forged out of pure gold decorated in the most beautiful gems: sapphires, rubies and amethyst.

After Sly planted a bug in the lynx's personal estate during a recon job, they learned that Bata would be hosting an annual underground RC combat club against other high level criminals operating in Istanbul and had even posted the Indian treasure box as the trophy, along with a large sum of $75,000 in Turkish currency. Not able to pass up the opportunity to rob a high level Turkish crime boss, along with scoring an incredibly rare Indian artifact and $75,000, the raccoon and his team had pieced together a foolproof plan to obtain the treasure box and 75 grand: Bentley had forged an authenticate RC combat ID for Murray, so he could participate as a new comer to the RC combat circuit hailing from Athens. While their hippo friend kept Bata and the audience busy, Sly had easily infiltrated the estate grounds/manor with Bentley hacking/deactivating the security cameras and systems so the raccoon could obtain the treasure box...along with sending an anonymous tip to the Turkish police to arrest Bata.

Neyla had been listening to the entire story and couldn't but smirk at learning how the Istanbul ended: with her raccoon lover and their teammates stealing the treasure box and money from Bata...and how Bentley no doubting tipped the Turkish police about the underground RC combat club at Bata's estate, which lead to his arrest. Once the story was finished, their turtle friend had began with the debriefing and presentation.

"After reading the log chopping guide, it's become painfully clear that in order for us to win in the Lumberjack Games...we'll have to cheat." The turtle began softly, informing his friends and teammates that their only means of winning the Clockwerk Talons was by cheating in the Lumberjack Games, while showing two slides: one of the log chopping guide and one of Murray practicing his log chopping skills.

"Now, I've constructed a plan that involves us acquiring an eagle's egg...which is more difficult than you think." Bentley continued, stating that he cooked up a plan that could help them during the Games that required an eagle's egg...which wouldn't be that easy as they thought while showing two slides: one of an eagle's nest resting on top of an iceberg and one of the raptor's swooping down to protect its home and unhatched egg.

"First, Murray will need to lure a bear into taking out the local oil mains. Once destroyed, the pressurized oil should ignite and create updrafts which Sly will use to paraglide over to the eagle's nest. Grab the egg and then bring it back to the safe house." He continued, explaining that Murray would lure the grizzly bear patrolling the main field into destroying the oil mains, which would ignite and create updrafts that Sly could use to paraglide over to the eagle nest and obtain an egg for them to use in the Lumberjack Games.

"Thanks to Murray's undercover work in the Moose guard's RC combat club, we've learned that the Northern Light battery is hidden in a silo not too far from here. The battery will need some serious modifications in order for us to sneak onto Arpeggio's blimp." Bentley stated while complimenting his hippo friend's excellent field work and getting the location of the battery while showing a slide of the said silo much to Sly's and Neyla surprise/disbelief!

"You've got to be kidding me..." The raccoon stated, not believing that the Northern Light battery was right in front of him and his tigress when they were taking the recon photos around the camp!

"It was right in front of us and we didn't even realize it?" Neyla asked with the same level bewilderment as her raccoon lover, as they were ran right past the silo concealing the battery while out in the field.

"I know, I couldn't believe it either after beating that idiot Moose guard you guys." Murray replied as he felt the same level of disbelief as his raccoon and tigress friend after obtaining the location of the battery from the Moose he challenged to an RC combat match.

"First, we'll short out the battery with grapple lines from three local boats. Then Neyla, Murray and I will break into the lighthouse and sever the power flow to the battery, that way it won't be able to recharge." Bentley stated while explaining how they would make very important changes to hide inside the device so sneak aboard Arpeggio's blimp in order to steal the Brain and remaining parts in the parrot's possession: breaking into the lighthouse to sabotage the charger to the Northern Light battery and short circuiting the device with grapple lines from three fishing boats out in the ocean.

"Given my electrical engineering background, this plan has a...97% chance of of success. Pretty good, huh?" The turtle stated, informing his friends/teammates that after they made the modifications, their plan to sneak on board Arpeggio's blimp by hiding inside the battery had a huge chance of success while concluding the presentation.

"...What about that other 3 percent?" Neyla hesitantly asked, while already not liking the answer to her question.

"Well...if we somehow screw up while sabotaging the charger or short circuiting the battery, the raw electricity already stored inside will no doubtingly stop our hearts and kill us in a matter of seconds." Her turtle friend answered truthfully, stating that if something went wrong as they short circuited the device...they raw electricity stored inside would no doubtingly stop their hearts, sending them into immediate arrest and killing them instantly.

"Sorry I asked." She stated softly as she, Sly and Murray stared shocked beyond words at what would happen if something went wrong as they made the modifications to the battery: how the raw electricity would kill them quickly in mere seconds!

"Well...let's just make sure none of us mess, especially since stowing away inside that thing is our only shot to sneaking aboard Arpeggio's blimp." Sly stated soft and firmly to his feline lover and friends, reminding them that if they do their parts right they'd be able to hide inside the battery safely, without getting killed in the process.

After being given their field job assignments, the raccoon and his team exited the safe house and headed out to search for their assigned RV points scattered throughout the lumber camp. It hadn't taken Neyla long to find her RV point...as it was directly above the silo containing the Northern Light battery! But sneaking past the brainless guards didn't turnout to be easy...as a Moose guard spotted the tigress as she crossed the bridge connected to the main field and immediately gave chase while shooting at her with his blunderbuss! But unfortunately for the idiot lackey, Neyla had the perfect plan to take of him...after drawing out her whip and a swift snap of her wrist, she easily sent the brainless guard freezing to his death as he fell right into the river running underneath the bridge. Once the useless thug was dealt with, she jumped onto a trampoline to land on top of the silo and pulled out her Binocucom to contact Bentley.

"That lighthouse is the prime conduit for collecting the Northern Lights. We need to shut it down...otherwise the silo battery will continue to charge on energy, making it impossible for us to stow away inside." Her turtle friend stated, while explaining that the lighthouse was the primary source for the Northern Light battery to charge up on energy as they both stared right at it through the tigress's Binocucom.

"So we simply need to sabotage the charger and any other piece of important equipment? That awfully sounds like Murray's department." Neyla asked as she understood how crippling the charger would stop charging the battery but was confused, due to tearing a computer or any other important machinery was more like their hippo friend's area of expertise.

"Well, it's not quite that simple Neyla: since this assignment will require you, me and Murray to work together on this one." Bentley countered while revealing that it would take the three of them to break inside the lighthouse and shutdown the charger.

"The front door is locked from the inside and the only other means of sneaking inside, is by climbing down the hatch at the top. Once inside, sneak down to the ground floor and unlock the door for me and Murray. We'll help you finish the job." He added while mentioning that the front door was locked from inside the lighthouse and the only other means of sneaking inside was by climbing down the hatch at the top.

"Alright, I'll you chaps on the ground floor." The tigress answered, as she understood that it was all up to her to unlock the doors for her turtle and hippo friends to enter the lighthouse so they could disable the battery charger together before they broke contact.

After putting her Binocucom away Neyla had jumped off the silo, deployed her paraglider and sailed over to the lighthouse. Once she landed safely outside on the opposite of the ocean, the tigress drew out her ice picks and began climbing the ice wall embedded into the lighthouse. The climb wasn't exactly easy or safe, as icicles dangling above underneath the hatch began to become loose and fall...which she luckily evaded thanks to watching Sly as they sidled along the ledges of Bison's cabins back in Nunavut Bay as the tigress continued scaling the ice wall. After reaching the top, she opened the hatch and jumped down to enter the lighthouse.

Once inside, Neyla simply ran down the stairs, which was a spiraling ramp and dealt with the idiot Goose guards stationed to watch the 'stairs' and protect the battery charger. The tigress had to occasionally sidle across insanely large gaps, as sections of the ramp were missing and witnessed energy fields produced from the charger had shot up from the main core of the device, which luckily didn't touch her...along with the security lights that were moving at an up/down motion as she sidled along the wall. After either knocking the idiot Geese out or sending them flying off the ramp with a swift strike from her whip, Neyla had reached the ground floor of the lighthouse and shattered the chair barricading the front doors which allowed Bentley and Murray to step inside.

"Thanks Neyla...just let me at that Northern Light attractor, it'll be slag in a few minutes!" The hippo stated, thanking his tigress friend and teammate for unlocking the doors for him and Bentley while pounding his fists together, showing he was ready to do some damage to the charger!

"It's not quite that simple Murray. I'll reverse the energy flow from the control computer, while you throw the main circuit breaker. That should give Neyla a small window of opportunity to climb up the power lines and overload the system from the top." Their turtle friend countered while explaining that disabling the battery charger wouldn't be that easy as he thought and explained their parts in the plan: he would disable the power flow from the main computer while the hippo threw the circuit breaker, which would provide Neyla a small period of time to climb up the power lines back to deactivate the control back at the top.

"Tssk, you'd think someone with an antique mind like Bison would bother to have an elevator built in this place." The tigress scoffed softly, showing she was annoyed that Bison never bothered to have an elevator built inside the lighthouse, with her friends and teammates sharing her feeling of annoyance.

Without any further discussion, Neyla had sprinted up the stairs/ramp while both Bentley and Murray immediately went behind the staircase, with the turtle getting to work hacking into the main terminal while the hippo lifted the circuit breaker: disabling the energy stored inside the charger to the Northern Battery! Once her friends had done their part, the tigress swiftly leaped across from the top of the stairs/ramp to the charger and began climbing the power lines...while skillfully switching from power line to another as the charger began to return to normal. After the tigress had reached the top floor, she approached the secondary circuit breaker, flipped the switch and smirked as she heard the excited tone in Bentley's voice.

"We did it! The collection mechanism is overloading!" Her turtle friend cried out in glee, as he and Murray witnessed the charger overloading with energy from the Northern Lights before they exited the lighthouse and headed for their own RV points!

Shortly after climbing the ladder and jumping out through the hatch, Neyla climbed up the pipe dangling over the side and rod on top of the roof, deployed her paraglider and sailed silently through the air over the lumber camp. Once she was over the main field, the tigress had used the trampoline to reach the cliff where their hideout was set up and stepped inside to wait for her raccoon lover and teammates to return from their field assignments.

 _~Meanwhile with Bentley and Murray~_

After they exited the lighthouse to help Neyla cripple the battery charger to the Northern Light battery and crossed the frigid ocean water back to the camp. Once they sprinted up the ledge leading to the cabin where the Moose guards held their RC combat club, the turtle and hippo sprinted across the bridge over to the main field, jumped across a log floating in the river and skillfully crossed over to the area where the 2nd water tower was located. Unfortunately, they were spotted by a Mountain Goat patrolling nearby and immediately reached for his bugle horn: blowing into it and alerting any other guards nearby, which only attracted a Goose guard hiding in a small outhouse wielding a pick ax and garbage can lid as a shield!

But thankfully, the fight between Murray and the two idiot lackeys hadn't lasted long: as the hippo had knocked the Goat out with a single punch to the face as he foolishly attempted to tackle him with a headbutt! Once the Goat was unconscious, the Goose attempted to strike Murray with his pick ax...which he easily evaded by sidestepping to the left, landed a swift uppercut underneath his bill and followed it with a roundhouse punch, knocking him out as well! However, the Goat had eventually regained consciousness and landed in a last minute sneak attack: a right hook followed by a left to his face! But before the flunky could land another blow...Murray easily caught his fist in the palm of his right hand...and the Goat quivered in fear by the grin on his face before he knocked him out with another fist to his face!

Once the Goat guard was dealt with, the Canadian Goose swiftly followed his fellow lackey's fate after he came to...as he merely had one second to give a 'honk' in surprise after Murray stomped his right foot down hard, which sent him upward into the air and the hippo lifted him over his head! He then simply turned his direction towards the river and tossed the Goose, throwing the pathetic thug into the raging body of freezing water which fed right towards the ocean! After the two guards were dealt with, Bentley had approached his RV point and drew out his Binocucom to contact Sly while Murray stood right behind him.

"I just can't believe this Bent...Neyla and I sprinted past this silo multiple times while out in the field and the battery was in front of us the whole time." The raccoon stated, showing he still couldn't believe that the Northern Light battery was right in front of them and they never realized it until now.

"Believe me Sly, I was just as surprised as you and Neyla when Murray first told me after getting the information from that idiot guard." His turtle friend answered, stating he was just as surprised as him and Neyla when Murray returned to the hide out after his field mission as they were glancing directly at the silo through Bentley's Binocucom.

"In order to prepare it for transport, we'll have to drain off the Northern Light energy already stored inside. By attaching a boat's grappling hook to the top of the silo, we should be able to deplete power from the battery." Bentley added, explaining to his raccoon and hippo friends by attaching the boats grapple hooks onto the silo that the battery would be drained of energy and making it safe for them to sneak onto Arpeggio's blimp.

"I'm assuming Murray will be tossing over to the boats?" Sly asked, as he knew how his friend and teammate intended to board the three fishing boats.

"That is correct. Once on board, I'll hack into its steering controls and move the vessel close enough to fire its grappling hooks." The turtle stated while nodding, confirming his friend's hunch and explaining how he would hack into the boats computer and pilot all three charters at a close enough distance to fire their grapple hooks.

"Alright, I'll climb on top of the silo and attach the hooks. How many grappling lines will it to take to drain the battery?" The raccoon replied, informing his friend that he'd climb up the silo to secure the grapple lines and asked how many hooks it would take to drain the Northern Light battery.

"Three should be more than enough. Once the first line's attached, Murray and I will commandeer another boat...you should stay in position." Bentley answered, stating that three grapple lines would suffice and asked his raccoon friend to remain on the silo while he and Murray commandeered the other two boats.

"Finally...I get the easy gig." Sly stated, showing he had no problem with staying on the silo to catch the grapple lines while his turtle and hippo friends hijacked all three fishing charters.

As soon as Bentley broke contact with his raccoon friend, he and Murray had leaped down to a path that lead up to the cliff that wasn't too far from the first fishing charter. Once they were in a perfect position, the turtle had jumped and tucked himself into his shell after jumping in the hippo's muscular hands. After carefully judging the distance between the boat and spot he was standing in, Murray had spun around, doing an 180 degree spin before tossing his turtle friend/teammate across the freezing ocean...and smirked as Bentley landed safely onto the vessel!

After he landed safely on the first boat, the turtle had given his friend a thumbs up, which the hippo gladly returned before he approached and hacked into the boat's on board terminal. However, hacking into the boat's autopilot system had proved much tougher than Bentley originally thought...as Bison had a newly upgraded security system installed into the terminal: as his digital avatar was having trouble combating mine-laying security 'tanks' which were more relentless than ordinary security nodes. But fortunately, he was able to fight his way through through the terminal, destroying the ordinary nodes and avoiding the mines placed by the tanks before finding and activating the boat's autopilot...and Bentley smiled as the boat piloted itself towards the silo!

"Sly, are you in position to catch the first grapple line?" The turtle asked through the team ear radio, wondering if his friend was on top of the silo to catch the first hook and got his answer as he spotted the raccoon kneeling down on the silo.

"Already here Bent. Get ready to fire that grapple hook, I'll make sure it connects to the battery." Sly casually answered, confirming he was in position and ready to catch the grapple lines once the 1st boat was within shooting range.

Once the boat was within range, Bentley had gotten behind the grapple hook launcher, took precise aim and fired. After he fired the grapple line, his raccoon friend and teammate easily caught the hook with his cane and latched it onto the silo. Once the first grapple hook was secured, Bentley and Murray had moved onto the next RV point, which was on the roof of the cabin where the Moose guards held their RC combat club. However...reaching the 2nd way point wasn't exactly easy, as they were spotted by a Moose guard patrolling around a smaller cabin and began chasing the turtle and hippo while shooting his blunderbuss, along with a Goose guard acting as a lookout on the roof of the cabin!

But fortunately for the two friends, the idiot thugs never managed to touch either of them...as Murray had used the latest gadget he purchased off ThiefNet: the Guttural Roar. As soon as he and Bentley were at a safe distance, the hippo swiftly turned around, took in a deep breath and emitted a terrifying bellow at the top of his lungs! Both the Moose and Goose guards had skidded to an unexpected stop, as the intimidating glare and roar he gave them caused them to turn around and run for their lives while both Murray and Bentley smiled and laughed at the sight.

"Now that was worth the price of admission!" The turtle stated while holding himself straight, as he found watching the two idiot lackeys run like little girls after his friend scared them off with his new gadget completely hilarious!

"You can say that again little buddy. Bison's 'men' are pathetic!" The hippo exclaimed, laughing alongside his friend/teammate after seeing the Moose and Goose guards running for their lives after using his Guttural Roar gadget!

After recovering from their laughing fit, Bentley and Murray had used the trampoline to land on top of the cabin and approached the ledge that overlooked down directly at the 2nd fishing boat. Once his hippo friend tossed him and landed safely on the boat, the turtle went straight to work in hacking into the terminal. However, the security system to the 2nd terminal was more complex and challenging than the first one, as the 'tanks' and drones were pushing his digital avatar into a corner. But thanks to Bentley's determination into draining the battery so he and his team could sneak aboard Arpeggio's blimp, he managed to bypass the security system and auto-piloted the fishing charter towards the silo, a few feet from the first vessel. After the 2nd boat was within shooting range, the turtle manned the harpoon launcher and fired the grapple hook, which Sly easily caught and secured to the silo.

Once the 2nd grapple line was attached and making it back to dry land, Bentley and Murray headed out to the third and final RV point, which was ironically on an ice shelf behind the cliff that Sly and Neyla used to test their newly ice climbing gear and between the dirt path that led right up to the safe house. Plus, the two friends spotted something truly unexpected: the woolly mammoth that Sly and Neyla freed from the ice wall to retrieve the log chopping guide!

"So that's where the mammoth ended up. Guess he just prefers being frozen." Their raccoon friend stated sarcastically through the team radio, as he and his tigress lover wondered where the prehistoric mammal ended up after they freed it.

"Oh, I'm guessing that thing was _real_ intelligent during the Ice Age." Murray stated while scoffing, since he couldn't believe that modern day elephants were the direct descendants of an animal as stupid as a mammoth that preferred being frozen in ice.

"Well, it's not that really hard to blame the thing: it was frozen in a block of ice for over a 75 million years and soon woke up to a timeline it wasn't familiar with or adjust to." Bentley countered while explaining to his hippo friend why the mammoth ran into the ocean and froze itself again: how the mammoth was in suspended animation for over 75 million years and was released into a world that it could adjust and live in.

"After you toss me onto that boat, you should head on over to your RV point big guy." He added, instructing his friend to head on to his RV point to make the necessary arraignments to help Sly acquire an eagle egg for the Lumberjack Games.

"You got it Bentley." The hippo stated while giving his turtle friend a thumbs up, as he saw that Bentley indeed have everything under control before he tucked himself into his shell and landed in his muscular hands one last time.

After Murray tossed him and he landed on the ice block containing the frozen mammoth, the turtle boarded the third fishing charter and hacked into the final computer. However, the security system in the third computer was much more difficult than the previous two terminals: as the drones were replaced by the 'tanks' to protect the central node and the mines they dropped scattered around to protect the node made it nearly impossible for his digital avatar to avoid taking serious damage. But Bentley refused to give up, as this was the final boat his team needed to drain the battery and sneak on board Arpeggio's blimp to steal and destroy the remaining parts of the ancient owl who tormented Sly's family line.

After he managed to destroy the remaining tanks and broke through the security barrier, the turtle hacked into and activated the boat's autopilot system. Once the third fishing boat was in position, he manned the harpoon launcher and fired the grapple hook which his raccoon friend easily caught and hooked into the silo.

"That did it! With the battery chamber empty, we'll be all set to sneak aboard Arpeggio blimp!" The turtle cried out happily, as the battery immediately began losing power once the last grapple hook was attached to the silo, which proved it would be safe for them to sneak into the device when the British parrot arrived to pick up the battery before heading back to the safe house.

 _~Meanwhile with Murray~_

Shortly after tossing Bentley across the ocean to board the 3rd and final fishing charter, the hippo ran up the dirt path to the right, leading to the cabin where the Moose guards held their RC combat club. After he crossed the bridge leading to the central field and avoiding the grizzly bear walking around, Murray had climbed up the same slope where his previous RV point...and was spotted by a Goose guard that was merely walking around. The fight didn't last long, as the hippo had knocked the idiot birdbrain out with a single hook to the face and the pathetic guard was rendered unconscious! Right after the thug was knocked out cold, the hippo had lifted the Goose over his head, walked towards the ledge of the slope and tossed the useless lackey into the river! Once the Goose guard was dealt with, he approached the RV point and contact Sly after pulling out his Binocucom.

"If we're going to get an eagle egg, you'll need to destroy the local oil mains firsts." The raccoon stated, informing his friend that in order for them to obtain an eagle egg to use against Bison during the Lumberjack Games that he needed to destroy the local mains scattered throughout the lumber camp grounds.

"It looks pretty sturdy..."the Murray" is strong, but his fists can't punch through thick metal." The hippo replied, showing he wanted to help but could also tell that the mains were too sturdy to be damaged by his fists.

"That's been covered big guy. You know that old grizzly that we avoid in the main field? His name is Grizzle Face and the guards usually ignore him because he's blind and practically nerve dead...except for his sense of smell. If that old guy smells fish, there's no stopping him." Sly casually stated as they glanced right at the grizzly bear they tried to avoid, informing his hippo friend that the grizzly went by the name Grizzle Face and how the guards didn't feel the slightest threatened by the old grizzly due to him being blind and deaf...but completely overlooked his sense of smell.

"Use Grizzle Face to take out the oil mains." He added, while instructing his friend and teammate to use the old bear to destroy the oil mains.

"But I don't smell like fish. How can I lure him around?" Murray asked, since he had no idea how he was supposed to lead Grizzle Face to the oil mains...especially since he didn't even smell anything like fish.

"Bentley's taken a post along the river. He'll keep tossing bombs into the water and the fish should get blown sky high...plenty should land near your position." His raccoon friend answered as they turned to see Bentley standing next a stretch of the river near the main sawmill and explained how the turtle would be planting bombs into the water to blast fish out of the river for him to use as bait to lure the old bear from place to place.

"So...you want me to throw a fish at the oil mains so old Grizzle Face will tear 'em apart?" The hippo asked, as he began to understand how he was to get the old grizzly bear to destroy the oil mains.

"That's the general idea. I'm already on my way to the lighthouse. I'll meet up with you and the others back at the safe house later." Sly replied with a nod, confirming that by tossing fish at the oil mains that Grizzle Face would tear the mains apart with his powerful claws.

"Alright, good luck Sly. I just hope that egg will be worth the trouble." Murray stated while wishing his raccoon friend the best of luck with obtaining the eagle egg and hoping that it would help them win the Clockwerk Wings from Jean Bison.

"You and me both big guy." The raccoon replied softly, hoping the same thing since the Lumberjack Games were tomorrow...which was also when Arpeggio's blimp was arriving to pick up the Northern Light battery before they broke contact.

Once he put his Binocucom away, the hippo waited patiently for his turtle friend to drop a bomb into the river and send a fish his way...and smiled as he heard an all too familiar explosion ring out and witnessed a large sized salmon land right next to his feet. He immediately picked the salmon up and jumped right into the main field where Grizzle Face was casually walking around and immediately came running towards Murray as he caught the salmon's scent in the air. After remembering Sly's words that the old grizzly was blind, which meant he couldn't see him, the hippo merely threw the salmon directly at the first oil main and smirked as Grizzle Face instinctively hacked away at it with his claws!

After the first oil main was destroyed, Murray had continued using fish that Bentley blasted out of the river as bait and lured Grizzle face to the remaining three mains. The hippo also didn't have to worry about any guards getting in his way...since they ran away like the cowards they truly were after seeing the old grizzly right behind him and salmon in his hands! Finding the 2nd oil main didn't take long, as it near a medium stacked pile of cut logs not to far from Jean Bison house. Once the 2nd oil main was destroyed, Murray had led Grizzle Face to the 3rd oil main, which was near the slope at the lower path, which was protected by bear traps and then to the 4th and final main, which was near an arch not to far from the truck carrying the cut logs falling down the chute connected to the main sawmill.

"Solid work Murray! Now that the oil lines are exposed, Sly's all set for a paragliding job off the lighthouse." Bentley stated through the team ear radio while congratulating his hippo friend on a job well for using Grizzle Face to destroy the oil mains, as Sly had everything he needed to acquire the eagle egg they needed for the Lumberjack Games!

 _~Meanwhile with Sly~_

After he caught the 3rd and final grapple hook to drain the Northern Light battery of its stored energy, the raccoon had glided over and climbed up the lighthouse. Once he climbed up a pipe on the side to the roof of the lighthouse and approached his RV point, he pulled out his Binocucom and contacted Bentley.

"In order for us to overcome Jean Bison in the Lumberjack Games, we'll need to enlist the help of the giant Canadian eagles." His friend and tech support stated, explaining that if they wanted half a chance to beat Bison in the Lumberjack Games tomorrow, they would need the help of the giant raptors flying in the sky above them.

"Their nest is out on that iceberg. Steal one of the eggs and bring it safely back to the safe house. We'll use it direct eagle's aggressive and protective parental instincts against Bison." The turtle continued as he and the raccoon glanced directly at the eagle nest on the iceberg in the ocean, revealing how they would use the eagle's aggressive nature and protective instincts against the red furred bison during the games.

"Sure sounds easy enough...except for the part where I have to swim half a mile through freezing water." Sly stated sarcastically, showing he had no problem with stealing an eagle egg so they could trick the eagles into attacking Bison during the Lumberjack Games...even though he would have to kill himself by 'swimming' through the frigid freezing sea water.

"Why swim when you can paraglide? With the oil mains all destroyed, the pent up combustible materials have caught on fire." Bentley casually countered, stating that his raccoon friend didn't need to swim as he could merely paraglide over the eagle nest and steal the egg.

"I see: the updraft created from the flames should give me some extra altitude to reach the nest!" The raccoon stated, as he immediately caught on to what his turtle friend and teammate meant: thanks to Murray using the old grizzly bear to destroy the oil mains, the oil stored underneath the camp had caught on fire and the updrafts created by the flames would provide him extra altitude to reach the eagle nest out on the iceberg!

"Just make sure to avoid the fire...descend too low or get too close and old Grizzle Face will be having barbecued raccoon for dinner." The turtle replied while advising that he avoided losing too much altitude or getting too close to the fire...and jokingly bringing up the scenario that Grizzle Face would be eating 'barbecued raccoon' for his latest meal.

"That's a charming image Bentley. Care to guess what I can imagine?" Sly stated sarcastically and countered with a likely scenario of his own.

"...What?" His friend and tech support hesitantly asked while already knowing and dreading the answer.

"What Neyla will do to you if I don't make it back to the safe house alive." He answered honestly, while bringing up that his tigress lover would no doubtingly kill the turtle if he did end up being roasted by the fire and eaten by the old grizzly bear.

"...You just had to bring **that** up, didn't you?" Bentley stated plain and simple, while somewhat annoyed that the raccoon had to mention that his tigress would indeed kill him if he didn't make it back to the hide out with the eagle egg alive before they broke contact.

After he placed his Binocucom back in his leg pouch, Sly had climbed up the antenna on the roof of the lighthouse, jumped and deployed his paraglider, sailing towards and over the lumber camp. Thankfully, the raccoon managed to remain at high altitude even though he was descending at a slow and steady rate, he gained an extra lift from the updrafts as he sailed over the camp and towards the sea. However...once he began approaching the iceberg, he spotted four adult eagles, no doubtingly the parents, aunt and uncle flying right towards him! But thanks to his swift reflexes, Sly managed to avoid being struck by the eagles as he steered his paraglider left/right and landed safely on the bottom of the iceberg.

Once he landed on the small island, the raccoon latched his cane onto a single wall hook etched into the iceberg and separated his cane to scale the ice: climbing up to the nest and smiled as the eagles only had a single egg. After he swiftly snatched the egg and gently placed it in his leg pouch for safe keeping, Sly had used three buoys floating the water to return to the lumber camp: latching his cane into the hooks, leaning back and shooting him skyward while deploying his paraglider. Once he made it back to dry land, the raccoon ran up the dirt path leading to the safe house and stepped inside, where his friends and lover were waiting for him.

"Sly, do you have the egg?" Neyla asked as she and her raccoon shared a loving hug, showing she was glad her lover made it back from the eagle nest without being burned alive by the flames to create the updrafts.

"I've got it right here, babe. It was a piece of cake." Sly answered as he reached into his leg pouch and took out the eagle egg, showing his tigress girlfriend and teammates that he indeed acquire an egg for the Lumberjack Games.

"That's great work Sly! Thanks to all our hard work, we're more than ready for the games tomorrow and sneak aboard Arpeggio's blimp." Bentley stated, complimenting his friends/teammates and congratulating them for terrific field work, as they were more than prepared to steal the Clockwerk Talons from Jean Bison after winning the Lumberjack Games.

"We should catch up on some sleep, since tomorrow is the big day." The turtle added while recommending that they rest up and his friends nodded in agreement, as tomorrow was their one and only shot at stealing both the Talons and sneaking aboard Arpeggio's blimp, which meant they couldn't afford any mistakes

Without any further discussion, Sly and his team turned in for bed as tomorrow was when they would obtain Bison's fourth and final Clockwerk Part and getting access to Arpeggio's blimp and more importantly: the remaining parts that the parrot had in his possession. However...what the raccoon and his friends didn't know...was that fate was going to throw them a curve ball that would cost them everything.

 **A/N: There it is everyone, the 2nd half to the Menace in the North episode! I would like to apologize to my reviewers and fellow Fanfic authors for the slight delay. I know that I promised to have the 2nd half posted before Thanksgiving, but I was so wrapped up in work and spending time with my folks that time flew by so fast. The Operation: Lumberjack Games chapter should be posted sometime before Christmas or New Years. Until next time, please be sure to read and review. Bye.**


	24. Operation: Canada Games

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any of its characters, except my OC**

 **A/N: Hello everyone, here is the Operation: Canada Games chapter, where Sly and his team participate in the Lumberjack Games to steal the Clockwerk Talons from Jean Bison, which will have...unfortunate results. Please sit back and enjoy.**

 **Reviews and comments will be appreciated**

 **Chapter 24: Operation: Canada Games**

After morning had slowly arrived, Sly and his friends gathered around the briefing table for a healthy breakfast while Bentley was putting together a slide show presentation on how they would win the Clockwerk Talons from Bison. As their turtle friend was nearly finished setting up the slide show projector, Neyla had poured four mugs of freshly made hot chocolate and handed one to Murray and Sly, which her hippo friend and raccoon lover gladly accepted, due to it being more colder last night than the night before. She had also set two extra mugs on the briefing table: one for herself and one for the turtle.

"Today is the big day guys, the Lumberjack Games are upon us." Bentley started off, reminding his friends and teammates what today was while displaying a slide with the name of their operation written across the slide in yellow marker, Operation: Canada Games.

"Now, despite Murray's study of the log chopping, none of us are skilled enough to beat Bison in the games fairly. So...as much as it pains me to say this, we'll have to cheat." The turtle continued, explaining how none of them were exactly muscular or skilled enough to beat the red furred bison in the three main events in the games fairly and how their means of winning the Talons was by cheating.

"Murray, you'll participate in the power log chopping competition. Get us a good score and then let Bison for his turn. While's he chopping, I'll sneak up behind him and plant the egg into his trousers, which will no doubtingly cause the protective parents to swoop down and disrupt his ax swinging." He continued with the debriefing, explaining how the hippo would represent their team in the log chopping event and while Bison was taking his turn, he would sneak up behind the bovine and plant the eagle egg into his back pocket...which would cause the protective and aggressive raptors to attack him.

"Sly, given your ascension skills, I've already signed you up for the ice wall climb. We'll keep Bison from beating your score by pulling him off the wall with three nearby grapple lines." Bentley continued while bringing up his raccoon friend's athletic reflexes and climbing skills, which made him the perfect candidate to compete in the ice wall climb event and how they would prevent Bison from beating his score by using three grapple hooks to yank him off the wall during his turn.

"And finally, I'll represent our team in the log rolling competition. With my knowledge of rotational mechanics, we're guaranteed to obtain a stupendous score. Sly will be in charge of greasing Bison's logs, so he'll have no way of beating it." The turtle added, revealing that he would represent their team in the log rolling event and would guarantee them a perfect score and how the raccoon would be in charge of covering Bison's log in grease, in order to make them extra slippery and difficult for the red furred bovine to beat his score.

"So if you guys are ready, let's get this operation started and show these meathead lumberjacks what we're made of!" He stated while concluding the presentation, claiming that it was time to get their operation started and beat Bison at his own games in order to win the Talons!

"Whoa, wait a second Bentley. What about me?" Neyla asked as their turtle friend hadn't given her an assignment to help out during the heist while giving the presentation.

"Neyla, I do have a job for you and it's extremely important." Her friend and tech support answered, informing the tigress that he had a very important job for her to carry out.

"How can I help?" The tigress asked as she was interested in what her special assignment was.

"If something goes wrong during the operation...we need you to protect the Clockwerk Parts we have." Bentley answered honestly, explaining that if something went wrong while they competed in the Lumberjack Games to win the Talons...they needed someone to protect the safe house and Clockwerk Parts they had in their possession.

"I promise...I won't let anything happen to the Clockwerk Parts. I'll protect them with my life." Neyla answered plain and firmly, reassuring her friends/teammates and raccoon lover that she would protect their Clockwerk Parts from Bison and his men if they somehow found their hideout.

"We have no doubt of that Neyla. But...let's just hope that nothing goes wrong." Her turtle friend replied, showing he trusted her completely in protecting both the safe house and Clockwerk Parts...and deeply hoping that they wouldn't have a repeat of what happened back in India. Just like the rest of their team.

Before Sly, Murray and Bentley had stepped out of the safe house to confront Bison to gain entry to compete in the games, the tigress had placed a gentle hand on her raccoon lover's arm and they shared a silent look. As is understanding that their friends/teammates needed a moment alone, the turtle and hippo stepped outside to give them the time they needed before they got the operation started.

"Be careful out there Sly. Bison is a lot of things, but he isn't stupid." The tigress started off softly while begging her raccoon to be extra careful when he and the others faced off against Bison in the games, while pointing out that the red furred bovine wasn't an idiot...as he would surely catch on or suspect that they would be cheating to win the Talons.

"The guys and I will be careful out there Neyla. It's not just the Clockwerk Talons that are stake: it'll only be a matter of time before Arpeggio arrives to pick up the Northern Light battery...and we can't afford to miss our only chance to sneak aboard his blimp." Sly stated softly, assuring his tigress that he, Murray and Bentley would be extra cautious while facing against Bison in the games and pointing that today was also the day Arpeggio's blimp would arrive to pick up the battery...and they couldn't afford to miss their only opportunity to sneak aboard to get at the remaining parts of the ancient owl.

"I love you, my beautiful tigress. Hopefully...nothing goes wrong." The raccoon softly added before he and his feline lover shared a burning passionate kiss, conveying their love and wishing the other luck with their job assignments.

"I love you too, my handsome Ringtail. Good luck out there." Neyla answered back with sweet smile, before placing a sweet peck on her lover's lips: wishing him and their teammates luck in winning the Lumberjack Games before her raccoon stepped outside to join their turtle and hippo friends.

Once he stepped outside, Sly saw that Murray and Bentley had waited patiently for him to join them...and was shocked to see their mark: Jean Bison staring out to sea on the sea ice below the dirt path leading up to the safe house!

"Murray? Bentley? He didn't see you guys step out of the hide out...did he?" The raccoon asked softly as he could tell they were just surprised as he was that Bison was standing not too far from their hide out was located!

"No...we don't think so. I think he might've been there since just this morning." His turtle friend answered truthfully, informing his friend and leader that the red furred bovine hadn't seen them exit their safe house...but were just surprised as Sly when they first saw Bison after they stepped outside to give him and Neyla their moment alone.

"I'll do all the talking once we're down there guys and Sly? Make sure to keep a low profile when we get close...we don't want him to recognize you." Bentley added, stating that he would speak for the three of them when they approached Bison and instructed his raccoon friend to keep a low profile, as they didn't want to risk the red furred bovine to recognize him when he was disguised back in the ballroom at Rajan's palace.

"Alright then...let's do this guys. Time to win those Talons!" Sly stated as he could clearly see that his friends/teammates were ready to face off against Bison in the games.

Without wasting another second, the raccoon and his team casually strolled down the dirt path leading to the sea ice, where Jean Bison was peacefully admiring the beauty of the Northern Lights illuminating the Canadian skies...and also waiting for his colleague and boss's blimp. While he was distracted searching for any sign of the British parrot's blimp, Bentley had casually approached the old Western bison to seek entry to compete in the games.

"Excuse me sir? My fellow humble lumber jacks and I would like to compete in your Lumberjack Games." The turtle stated in a somewhat believable 'Old Western' accent while claiming that he and his friends were fellow 'lumber jacks' who wished to compete in the games.

"So you and your pals think ya'll got what it takes to win the Clockwerk Talons, eh?" Well, I'm sure enough gonna let ya play...so long as you pay the entry fee." Bison stated in an amused tone while slightly showing he bought Bentley's impersonation of a fellow Westerner and agreed to allow him and his friend to enter...as long as they paid the fee to compete as participants first.

"May I ask how much the entry fee costs?" Bentley calmly asked, while slightly surprised that he and his needed to pay a fee in order for them to compete in the games.

"600 gold coins apiece for a single participant or five gold bars." The red furred buffalo answered, stating that the entry fee was 600 gold coins from all three of them or five gold bars.

"Much obliged partner...we'll, uh, just take our positions for the competition." The turtle answered as he and his friends shared a brief nod, showing they were completely fine with paying 600 gold coins in order to compete in the Lumberjack Games...even though they were surprised that the secondary means of paying was with five gold bars!

"You fellas should enjoy the moment y'all think you've got a chance...it's as close to winning as you'll ever get!" Bison replied softly while informing Bentley and his friends they should enjoy the idea of thinking they could 'win the Talons' before the games actually started...and giving them an intimidating glare, as if saying he never loses!

Shortly after their 'friendly chat' with the red furred bovine, Sly and his friends had approached the judges table and presented three small wool sacks filled with 600 gold coins to three Goose guards that were no doubtingly the judges to observe and evaluate their performance during the three main events. Once the raccoon and his team were officially registered to compete, they witnessed their hippo friend took off to take his place in the first event in the Lumberjack Games.

"This years first event will be the Power Logging contest! Not like anyone's ever going to beat my record...but, let'em try!" The red furred bison shouted, showing he was also the announcer and declaring the games to begin with the Power Logging event while Murray had climbed over a large sturdy log with an axe in his hands!

Once all three judges gave the command to begin, the hippo simply nodded, showing he understood that it was time for his turn to begin as he raised his ax over his head. After taking in a deep breath, Murray had slammed the sharpened and bladed end of his ax down hard, hacking away into the center of the log. He had proceeded to land eight clean chops, hacking deep through the log until the center was completely cut through! Once the log was cut in half, the hippo casually placed the axe over his shoulders while turning to judges, waiting to see what his score was...and a huge smile spread across his face as he won a score of 30 points: 10 points each!

"Not a bad effort Hippo...but watch and learn as I destroy that log without even breaking a sweat." Jean Bison complimented, showing he was somewhat impressed with how the hippo handled an axe and sliced through the log as the judges gave him a score of perfect 10's!

After Murray's turn was over, he casually walked past Bison with four Moose Guards right behind him: wearing shoulder harnesses, lugging a second large sturdy log for their boss to chop as his turn was up. Once the Moose guards had swapped they chopped log that the hippo cut in half with the log they were dragging, they wished their boss the best of luck during his turn before crossing the ocean by riding on multiple floating pieces of ice. As soon as his men left with the log Murray chopped in half, Bison approached his log with a standard axe and waited patiently for the judges to signal the command to begin chopping. However...neither the red furred bovine or simpleminded judges noticed Bentley waiting for him to begin his turn.

"Okay Bentley...you're on. Plant that eagle egg on Bison and the very ticked off parents should swoop in and throw off his axe timing." Sly stated plain and simple, instructing his turtle friend to sneak up undetected behind Bison and plant the egg in his back pocket...which, if Bentley guessed right, would cause the angry raptors to attack the red furred buffalo after seeing their egg sticking out of trousers.

As soon as the judges gave Bison the command to begin chopping the log, Bentley carefully withdrew the fragile eagle egg out of a light red wool pouch that he used to keep the egg warm and incubated last night. However...crossing over the ice cap to reach the ledge in order to hitch a 'ride' on the floating pieces of ice: as the eagle parents were flying overhead...and swooped down at the turtle after seeing their egg in his right hand! Thankfully, he managed to evade being struck by the angry raptor's wings...but that didn't stop the mother or father from trying again, which the turtle continued to dodge...despite making sure he didn't hold onto his fragile cargo too tightly, otherwise the egg would crack and make it worthless to use against Bison!

After skillfully dodging the eagle mother's fourth and final attempt to strike him with her talons, the turtle had thankfully reached the ledge of the ice cap and climbed on board a passing floating piece of ice. Thankfully, not one of the judges noticed him crossing the ocean on the floating pieces of ice and Bison was easily distracted chopping through the log, that he was completely unaware of the small nerdy turtle creeping up behind him. After he quietly sneaked up the red furred buffalo and planted the egg in his back pocket, Bentley immediately moved away to avoid being spotted by the judges and smiled at what soon followed: as Bison attempted to land another chop to cleave the log in half...the eagle mother had caught a glimpse of its egg in his back pocket and swooped down to strike at the bovine with its talons and Bison instinctively ducked as the angry raptor dove down at him...while dropping his axe in the process!

Once the eagle mother flew back into the sky, Bison's turn in the Power Logging event ended and the judges had gave their boss a score of 0 points: as he failed to finish chopping the log and dropped his axe...which didn't suit well with the bovine.

"What! I think you'd better rethink them scores boys. What you intended to give me was perfect 10's, RIGHT?!" The red furred bison growled with an intimidating glare after seeing the judges give him a score of 0's instead of 10's!

Not wanting to upset their boss further, the three Geese guards immediately swapped their score cards: giving him a score 30 points which made him and Murray tied in the Power Chop event. After Bison had used the floating pieces of ice to return to land, he led Sly and his team to the next area for the 2nd event: the Ice Wall Climb event...which to their deep shock was right near the cave where they parked and hid the team van!

"So your pink friend knows how to handle an axe. But let's see how you handle a vertical wall of ice!" The red furred buffalo stated, acknowledging Murray's skills with an axe and demanded to see how they could handle climbing up a towering wall embedded with wall hooks and glowing red security panels with Sly approaching the wall to begin his turn.

Before he approached the towering wall, the raccoon had naturally studied how the wall was formed and hooks were set apart: several rocks etched into the side had been set up in a parallel angle, like bumpers to a pinball machine and the number of wall hooks would prove difficult as well: several were scattered too far apart or set up too close that gaining altitude would be nearly impossible. However...Sly couldn't help but smirk as he appreciated a decent challenge, especially as he planned out his climbing route after studying the wall. Once he was mentally prepared, the raccoon had leaped off the ground, latched his cane onto the nearest wall hook and shot himself upward into the air!

Once he climbed up the bottom of the wall and lunged himself upward after latching onto another wall hook, Sly had separated his cane and began scaling the medium half of the wall, which was covered in sheer ice. After he reached the top of the sheet of ice, the raccoon had reformed his cane and latched onto another wall hook, beginning his climb up the upper half of the wall. However...climbing up to the top had proved to be tricky: due to the security panels glowing red and coming alive with electricity, which the crafty and wily raccoon easily evaded and leaped off after leaning back and shooting himself upward into the air. After latching his cane onto two final hooks, Sly had landed safely on the top of the wall and waved down to Murray and Bentley, to show them that he made it to the top safely and waved back in return as the judges gave him a grand total of 30 points!

"Pretty good for a scrawny raccoon. Now watch and learn as I demonstrate the art and **_true_** meaning of power climbing!" Bison stated, showing he was mightily impressed with Sly's athletic jumping and climbing skills as the judges gave him a score of perfect of 10's before he approached the wall for his turn in Power Climb event.

As soon as the red furred buffalo approached the wall, the three small outhouses that rested on their own separate dock had exploded and revealed three grapple launchers that were in perfect line with the ice wall! However...what Bison was holding in his right hand nearly made the raccoon and his friend's do a double take: his walking staff with the Clockwerk Talons! They could not believe that he was actually using the Talons to climb the wall...but kept quiet about it: as they were playing Bison's games and he could use whatever tool he saw fit to compete in the events, just like them.

"Murray, use those grapple lines to hook onto Bison. You'll need to tag him with all three in order to yank him off the wall." Bentley stated while instructing his hippo friend to man the three grapple hook launchers in order to pull the red furred bison off the wall before he could reach the top.

After waiting patiently for Bison to choose to decide how he would climb the wall, the hippo had manned the harpoon launcher in the center dock as the buffalo had latched the Talons onto a wall hook in the center of the lower half. As soon as the buffalo had began his turn and latched Talons onto the hook, Murray took precise aim with the grapple launcher and fired: connecting the first hook as it landed directly on the middle of Bison's back! Thankfully, the red furred buffalo didn't seem to notice or feel the hook latching onto his back and the idiot judges seemed to be completely oblivious, as not one of the moronic Geese guards didn't even react after seeing a grapple hook latching onto their boss as climbed the ice wall.

Once the first grapple line was set, it didn't take the hippo long to snag the red furred buffalo as he proceeded with his turn. However...latching the remaining two grapple lines onto Bison wasn't going to be that easy as Murray thought: as he was able to jump much higher than Sly when the raccoon took his turn. But luckily for him, the buffalo had to took a short break as he used up a lot of stamina while performing his jumps...which gave him the time he needed to switch from manning the launcher on the left or right dock. While Bison was catching his breath, Murray had manned the launcher on the right: as the red furred bovine had propelled himself and latched his staff onto a wall hock a few inches near the center of the wall and fired, latching the grapple hook onto his right shoulder!

Thankfully, Bison hadn't noticed or paid any attention after feeling the second grapple hook latching onto his shoulder: even with the sharp ends digging underneath his fur and cutting into his skin. To say that Murray was surprised how resilient the red furred buffalo was after firing two hooks onto his back and right shoulder was an understatement, as Sly and Bentley were just as surprised as their hippo friend.

"That's...impossible. How can he still be able to climb with two grapple lines attached to his back and shoulder?" The raccoon asked, while turning to his friend and tech support, whom shook his head in complete awe and disbelief!

"I...I honestly don't know Sly. Bison must've trained himself to endure any kind of pain or discomfort while perfecting his outdoorsman/climbing skills before he ever ended up being frozen alive." The turtle answered while fairly guessing that Bison must've trained himself to ignore any distractions while perfecting his climbing/outdoorsman skills before the mining accident that left him frozen alive for 120 years, since that was the most logical explanation to how he was able to continue to climb with two hooks latched onto his body!

As soon as the shock passed, Murray immediately sprinted to man the 3rd and final launcher on the pier to the left as Bison had propelled himself into the air and latched his staff onto a hook in the center of the wall. The moment the buffalo had stopped to regain his stamina, he took precise aim and fired: with the 3rd grapple hook latching onto the back of Bison's left shoulder! Sly and his friends smiled after the 3rd grapple line hooked onto the bovine's left shoulder and the cables started to rewind back into their own launchers...which strongly pulled Bison off the wall and landed with a heavy thud! After witnessing their boss fall off the ice wall, the judges had given him a score of 0: just like the Power Logging event...which didn't sit well with the buffalo.

"It seems you have pulled the wrong cards again. Did I ever tell any of you the story about the judge from last year's competition who unwisely gave me a score other than 10?" Bison started off slowly after seeing the score the judges gave him...and coldly asked if he ever told them what he did the previous judge from last year's competition whom mistakenly gave him a low score!

Not wanting to find out themselves or share the previous judge's fate...the three Geese guards immediately swapped the score cards and gave their boss a score of perfect 10's.

"I see we're tied with only one event to go. Unfortunately for you fella's, I've saved my best event for last: the Spinning Log competition." The red furred bovine stated more calmly, pointing out that he and the Cooper Gang were 'tied'...due to him threatening the judges after giving him a low score in the two previous events and revealing the final event: the Spinning Log competition was his personal favorite.

"Okay...looks simple enough. I've just got to stay out of the water." Bentley stated as the final event was set up back at the ice cap where the Power Chop event was set, with three large sized logs rolling in the freezing water and he leaped onto the middle barrel which began the event.

After the turtle had leaped onto the middle log, he moved his legs in complete sync with the log's rotating movement. However after walking on the log for what felt like two minutes, he noticed the logs to his left and right slowly began to sink into the freezing sea water. Bentley then soon realized that in order for him to win the log rolling event, that he needed to time and plan his jumps perfectly otherwise he would lose the final competition in the games. The turtle had skillfully walked along and jumped between the logs for what felt like ten minutes until the judges signaled for him to stop and gave him a perfect score of 30 points after evaluating his performance.

"You're one lucky turtle, I'll give you that. But now watch how a skilled log roller does it!" Bison stated, showing he was actually impressed that a small nerdy turtle was able to win a perfect score in his best event before stepping up to take his turn.

As soon as Bentley casually walked past the red furred buffalo, he and his friends knew they had to come up of a plan to make sure that Bison lost the log rolling event or they would never win the Talons.

"Guys, this is insane! Jean Bison has got those judges so intimidated there's no way he cane lose!" Murray exclaimed while pointing out the most obvious fact that they wouldn't be able to beat Bison as he threatened/scared the judges into giving him a perfect score!

"You're right Murray. Those guys need to go." Sly stated as he completely agreed with his hippo friend/teammate: how they would never win the Talons as long as Bison intimidated the judges...which meant they needed to get rid of the spineless birdbrains.

"Okay, I know this is a long shot...but, what if I were to lure the judges, one by one into that cave with my Alarm Clock gadget? Once inside, you guys will knock them out and take their clothes." The raccoon added while offering his team a plan that had a very small chance at success: how he would use his Alarm Clock gadget to lure the judges, one by one into a nearby cave and once inside, they would knock the idiot Geese guards out to get at their clothes.

"You're right Sly...it is a long shot, but it could work. When all three judges have been incapacitated, we'll be able to disguise ourselves and take their places at the judges table!" Bentley stated while nodding, showing he agreed with his raccoon friend that his plan was indeed a long shot...but could work, as they would disguise themselves as the judges and hopefully fool Bison after he finished his turn.

"That's a great plan Sly, but you gotta move fast. 'Cause once Bison finishes the log rolling event...our plan is busted." Murray stated, showing he agreed with his friend and leader's plan as well but pointed that he needed to work fast, because once the red furred bovine finished his turn in the log rolling event...their operation was exposed.

Without wasting any more valuable time, the raccoon had put his plan into action: jumping across three floating block of ice in the water to get close enough to the three judges. Once he got at a safe enough distance and landed on the 2nd ice block, Sly had winded up and tossed an alarm clock, which landed right on the 3rd ice block right behind the idiot Geese guards! Thankfully, the other two judges were too focused on watching their boss perform on the rolling logs and paid no mind when their fellow lackey heard the clock ringing right behind them and left his post! Once the idiot guard took the bait, the crafty raccoon kept his distance while winding two more alarm clocks that lured the judge right towards the cave and hid inside a wooden barrel to avoid being spotted.

After the moronic lackey had stepped inside the cave to search for the source of the alarm clocks...loud blows could be heard being landed and the judge had merely gave a single honk of surprise before realizing he walked into a trap! Once the blows had stopped...Sly had a crafty smirk on his face as he witnessed Bentley step out of the cave with a goose beak over his mouth and lumberjack hardhat over his pith helmet. After he and his friend gave each other a thumbs up, the turtle had immediately jumped across the ice blocks and took his place beside the remaining two actual judges, whom didn't even seem to notice the difference as they were completely focused on Bison as he was nearly halfway finished.

Once he saw Bentley take his place at the judges table, the raccoon swiftly repeated the process for Murray: luring the second judge away with his alarm clocks without the remaining idiot Goose guard noticing towards the cave. After ducking inside the barrel to avoid being spotted and tossing a clock near the cave entrance, the idiot judge stepped inside the cave...where Sly heard much louder blows landing and smiled after Murray stepped outside and joined their turtle friend at the judges table! After successfully getting his friends/teammates their disguises, the raccoon immediately went to work on getting his disguise: luring the remaining judge to the cave, knocking him out and stealing his clothes!

As soon as he stepped outside the cave in his judge disguise, Sly swiftly leaped across the ice blocks and joined his friends at the judges table...which was also the exact moment when Bison had finished his turn in the log rolling event. While silently hoping that the simpleminded bovine wouldn't see through their disguises, the disguised raccoon, hippo and turtle had gave Bison a sum score of 0 points.

"What?! I thought I warned you idiot judges about the consequences of 'incorrect' scores and...!" The red furred buffalo demanded, showing he was not happy about the 'judges' giving him a score 0 at the end of his favorite event..until he immediately saw something was off about his 'men'!

"Wait a second...You're not the judges I hired this morning! Why, it's the scrawny raccoon and his annoying friends Arpeggio told me about!" Bison added as he saw right through their pathetic disguises and recognized Sly and team...whom simply backed away from the table after seeing the extremely pissed look on his face!

"Well...if you dirty cheatin' vermin want the Talons so badly...why don't you JUST TAKE 'EM!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, stating that if the raccoon and his friends wanted the Talons so badly, they could 'have them'...but not before throwing his cane with Clockwerk Part right at them!

Sly and his team could only stare in complete shock...before they blacked out and lost consciousness right after the Talons struck them directly in their faces and bounced right off their heads! Right after the raccoon and his friends were knocked unconscious, Bison had reached into his belt pouch and pulled out a two-way walkie-talkie to radio his men.

"Men this is Jean Bison. I have knocked out and captured Cooper and his gang. Take them straight to the sawmill control room and lock 'em up so the four of us can have a 'pleasant conversation' once they wake up later on." The red furred buffalo stated, informing his men that he captured Sly and his team which more than enough to make every nearby Goose, Mountain Goat and Moose guard running towards their boss's current location.

After his men arrived, three separate Moose guards took the unconscious turtle and raccoon right towards the main sawmill: one Moose simply picked Bentley up by his waist and carried him underneath his armpit while the other two lackeys lifted Sly up by his wrists and ankles, while confiscating their crossbow and cane! Unknown to Bison and his men, Neyla had been witnessing everything from outside the hideout through her Binocucoms and stared shocked/horrified after seeing her raccoon lover and teammates captured by the bovine and his lackey's!

"No!" The tigress cried out, saddened and horrified after witnessing Bison tossing the Talons directly at her lover and teammates, which was what knocked them unconscious and witnessed his men drag/carry Sly and Bentley away to the main sawmill for interrogation.

However...that was also when something else happened: one of Bison's Mountain Goat guards had spotted her glancing down at them through her Binocucoms and she stared just as shocked back before withdrawing them!

"Oi, Boss! Look! It's her, the traitor!" The Mountain Guard guard shouted while pointing towards the tigress's direction up the dirt path before she sprinted back to prevent the buffalo and his men from breaking inside the hideout!

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get her boys!" Bison replied while demanding to know what his men were standing around for before ordering them to chase after and capture Neyla...while smiling since he felt today was his lucky day!

 _~One hour and thirty minutes later, inside the sawmill control room~_

"Oh...my head. Those Talons really pack a punch." Bentley stated softly after regaining his consciousness, as his eyes slowly opened and stared surprised to find that he and his friends/team were locked inside what appeared to be a small room filled with controls to a number of lumberjack equipment!

Before he attempted to wake his raccoon and hippo friends from their 'nap'...his eyes widened in shock as he spotted Neyla also locked in the small room with them! He stared stunned beyond words, as his feline friend had a fair number of bruises that were still fresh showing on her neck, face and chest/torso: suggesting that she must've been in a huge fight...a fight that she unfortunately lost.

 _'Neyla...oh, God. What happened after Bison knocked us out cold with the Talons?'_ The turtle mentally asked with a saddened frown, as he blamed himself for the beating his tigress friend endured after Bison saw through their sorry judge disguises and knocked them unconscious with his final Clockwerk part.

"Sly! Murray! Wake up!" Bentley shouted, which slowly woke his raccoon and hippo friends up, even though they're heads were still aching from the pain experience with the Talons!

"Yeah...I'm awake. But not so loud okay? I've got a splitting headache." The raccoon answered as he slowly opened his eyes and brought his left hand up to massage his head while standing up, showing his head was still aching after Bison tossed the Talons at them.

"Whuh?...Who? Where are we? What's going on!" The hippo asked shortly after slowly regaining conscious right after his friend/leader and demanded to know what had happened after waking up in the small room!

"Uh...Sly? Is...is that you?" Neyla muttered softly, as the sound of Bentley and Murray shouting slowly helped her awaken from the beating she took from Bison and his men and slowly opened her eyes to spot her team glancing at her direction...along with the distraught look on her raccoon lover's face.

"Oh, my God...Neyla!" Sly cried out before scurrying over to his tigress's side and scooped her up his arms, while Murray had a distraught look on his face as well after seeing the state his feline friend/teammate was in!

"Neyla...what happened? How did this to you?" The raccoon asked while holding his battered lover in his arms, while a strong and painful combination of guilt and anger had returned to plague him: the same feeling of guilt and anger he felt when he and tigress were captured in India and failing to save her from the Contessa's 'prison' before the corrupt spider moved Neyla to her castle estate.

"It...it was...Bison and his men. They saw me when I was outside watching you chaps competing against him in the games." The tigress answered softly, as the pain slowly faded away and she brought a hand to cup her raccoon's cheek, assuring him that the beating she took to protect their hide out and Clockwerk parts wasn't his fault, which helped anchor her lover's sense of distraught and guilt.

"Neyla...what exactly happened after Bison knocked me, Sly and Murray out with the Talons?" Her turtle friend asked softly, as he and Murray softly walked up behind their raccoon leader and placed comforting hands on his shoulders to help comfort him, which Sly deeply appreciated.

"He...he sent his lackeys to capture me and...they found the safe house." She answered somberly, as she remembered what had happened shortly after Bison and his captured her raccoon lover and teammates with perfect clarity...and deeply wished she hadn't.

 _~Flashback: One hour and thirty minutes ago, outside the team safe house~_

 _Shortly after running up the path that led straight to their hideout, Neyla swiftly locked the door from the outside and with a swift powerful downward kick...broke the doorknob off, which would make it difficult for Bison and his men to gain entry into their safe house. Once the door was firmly locked and now unable to open/close...the tigress turned her attention to multiple foot steps marching up the path and spotted at least three Goose, two Mountain Goat and four Moose guards approaching her with their boss right behind them._

 _"Well...ain't this a nice surprise? Fancy seein' you here Neyla." Jean Bison stated sarcastically after seeing Arpeggio's former protege here in his lumber camp and glared hatefully at the tigress as he mirrored the angry glare she sent his way._

 _"Feeling's mutual Bison...although you obviously didn't learn your lesson back in Nunavut Bay, after my friends and I took out your three precious trains." The tigress countered while drawing out her whip and preparing it for battle as the red furred buffalo and his men continued to advance closer towards the safe house._

 _"So...what my boys told me then was true: you and your friends actually had the nerve...to ROB AND DESTROY MY BEAUTIFUL IRON HORSE TRAINS!" Bison slowly stated...before bellowing out at the top of lungs as a_ _number of his men told him that she helped Sly steal the 2nd Clockwerk Lung and Stomach that led to the destruction of Iron Horses 2 and 3!_

 _"I'm going to make you and your friends **pay** for that Neyla! You and your team destroyed everything I built with my own two hands and took away **MY** babies!" He angrily shouted, swearing vengeance against the tigress and her team for destroying his precious Iron Horse locomotives, stealing the Lungs and Stomach __and more importantly: dismantling the Klaww Gang's entire spice shipping operation!_

 _"Oh, what a shame...since you, that backstabbing bitch Carmelita and more importantly, Arpeggio are finished. Once my team and I sneak aboard that pathetic excuse for a parrot's blimp, the Clockwerk Parts are history...and Clockwerk will never again harm by beloved's family." Neyla replied, feigning sympathy for putting an end to her former master's grand scheme...and also ensuring that the ancient robotic owl would never again return and plague her raccoon lover's future children._

 _"So...you and the scrawny raccoon are together, eh? Well...if its any consolation for ya, you can join him and your pathetic friends in the sawmill control room after my men and I beat you senseless! Get her boys!" Bison stated with an angry scowl after learning that she and Sly were a couple and offered the feline a 'consolation prize': tossing her inside the sawmill control room alongside her raccoon boyfriend and teammates before sending his men to attack her!_

 _After their boss gave them the order to attack, his brainless goons had charged in: with the Mountains Goats first followed by the Canadian Geese guards! Once his men blindfully charged in, the tigress had swiftly made the first move: wrapping her whip around the first Mountain Goat's waist and with a sharp twist of her wrist, sent him spinning like a top, crashing into a Goose and fellow Goat guard...while Bison merely shook his head in disgust. After the first three goons were defeated, Neyla naturally and swiftly evaded a left and right hook that another Mountain Goat guard attempted to land on her face, only to miss and accidentally slug a Goose guard across his bill/face!_

 _As Neyla continued to hold her own against the idiot guards, she swiftly realized a rather important fact a little too late: while she was focused battling the Goat and Goose guards...she completely forgot all about the Moose guards! Once she easily dodged a Goose guard attempting to strike her in the chest with a frozen solid snowball..the tigress was too slow to evade a Moose guard landing a powerful blow across her face with his blunderbuss! The force of the last minute sneak attack was so strong, that it sent the feline falling to her knees and she groaned softly, as the barrel of the shotgun struck her right against her right eye. Before she even had the chance to recover, a Goose had struck the tigress directly in her chest with his shovel and a Goat had landed a powerful fist to her face!_

 _'I-I can't them get past me! Sly, Bentley, Murray and I worked so obtain the parts we stole from Dimitri, Rajan, Contessa and this dimwit! We can't lose them now, not when we're so close!' Neyla mentally screamed to herself, refusing to give up and lose to Bison especially since she and her team were so close to accomplishing their goal: putting an end to Clockwerk and making sure he never returned to harm Sly's family line._

 _But unfortunately for the tigress, she never had the opportunity to fight back...as two Moose guards had crept up behind her and gotten a strong hold of her arms, which left her wide open for a relentless number of blows! Neyla had groaned in great pain, as the Goose guards struck her multiple times in her chest/stomach with their shovels while the Goats continued to land a number of punches: jabs and hooks...with the last punch being an insanely powerful uppercut! The power that was thrown into that uppercut was so strong, that the two Moose guards had gladly released their hold of her arms and smiled as she fell flat on her back, onto the freezing snow covered ground...before slamming their hoof covered feet down hard on her chest and stomach, while their boss watched in amusement!_

 _"Alright, that's enough!" Bison commanded with a dark grin on his face, as he enjoyed every second of witnessing his men beating the overpowered feline, as her face was covered in her own blood from the punches the Goats landed before turning his attention to the safe house._

 _"Now...what do you and your friends have stashed away inside that little hide out of yours?" He asked, while gesturing to the safe house and Neyla's eyes widened as the rest of his men also turned their attention to the barricaded safe house!_

 _"Oh, by that look on your face...I'd say wager something important. Maybe say: the Clockwerk Parts you, your little friends and scrawny boyfriend stole from me, Dimitri, Rajan and the Contessa." The red furred buffalo stated, as he fairly guessed that all the Clockwerk Parts that the tigress and her team had stolen from him and rest of the Klaww Gang were stashed away hidden in their hideout!_

 _"Where are the Parts you thieving rats stole from me and my associates?" He demanded, while walking up to the battered feline...who simply spat a small mouthful of blood mixed in with saliva onto the bison's face._

 _"As if I would ever tell you!" Neyla defiantly countered after she spat on Bison's face and was met with an angry glare from the bovine...before he knocked her unconscious with a powerful punch to her face!_

 _"Throw her in the sawmill control room with her friends. The rest of you, break this door down and start looking for the Clockwerk Parts." Bison commanded pure and simple, ordering two of his men to toss the unconscious tigress in the sawmill control room with the rest of her team and ordering the rest of his lackeys to search for the Clockwerk Parts after they broke down the door!_

 _"Oh, Arpeggio is gonna love this!" He added while laughing, since he would be paid handsomely for handing his parrot boss/leader the rest of the Parts while witnessing the two Moose Guards whom held the tigress down for the beating she took, lifted her up by her wrists and ankles and carried her away._

 _~End of flashback~_

"...I'm sorry Sly. I couldn't stop them from getting inside the hideout." Neyla stated while sobbing softly, as she felt that she failed her raccoon lover and friends: as Bison and his idiot goons had without a doubt must've broken down the door and ransacked the safe house...looking for their Clockwerk Parts.

"Neyla? Look me." Sly asked softly as he, Murray and Bentley had listened to every word that his tigress said and stared with shocked looks on their faces: how Bison and his men spotted his feline lover outside the hideout and how she bravely attempted to protect their Clockwerk Parts from the red furred bovine and his lackeys, but failed.

"Please look at me Neyla." He raccoon repeated softly, as his tigress refused to look at him as she couldn't bring herself to a look of disappointment on his face...but finally did as her lover asked and was met with comforting eyes.

"It wasn't your fault, you did the best you could. Murray, Bentley and I aren't mad or upset at you, my beautiful tigress. If anything...its our fault that this happened." The raccoon softly stated, assuring his feline lover that he and their friends/teammates weren't angry or upset at her...but at themselves, for getting captured and not being there to help her protect the safe house and their Clockwerk Parts.

"Sly's right Neyla. You did the best you could at the time: Bison had his men gang up on you, but you still held your own as long as you could to protect the Clockwerk Parts. We're just so sorry we weren't there to help you." Their turtle friend stated after his raccoon friend and leader, comforting the tigress by reminding her that she did the best she could to protect their Parts from Bison all on her own, even though she was outnumbered and surrounded by his men.

"I'm going to make them pay for what they did to you Neyla, I promise you that. Nobody gangs up on my friends and gets away with it! When we get out of this room, I'm going to rip Bison apart!" Their hippo friend stated, promising the tigress that he would get payback on Jean Bison and his idiot goons for ganging up on and leaving his feline friend in the battered state she was currently in!

"There's only one problem Murray: there's no obvious means of escaping this room!" Bentley countered, while pointing out that the sawmill control room was locked down tight and he couldn't find any alternative means of escaping!

"I wouldn't be too sure about that Bent. Think you can slide down that pipe over there?" Sly swiftly contradicted, as his keen eyes had spotted a way for his friend and tech support to escape the room: a medium sized pipe sticking out between a gap near one of the computer consoles in the far left corner of the room!

"Yeah...Yeah, I definitely think that I can squeeze through there!" The turtle answered, as he turned to look at the tight space and confirmed that he could slide down the pipe through the small gap.

"I'll drop down and try to free you guys from outside. If I run into any trouble, I'll contact you through this walkie-talkie: I'm positive that this computer console operates all the log chopping equipment inside the sawmill." Bentley added, stating that he would attempt to free his friends from outside the control room and if he ran into trouble, he'd call his raccoon friend for help through their walkie-talkies.

"While you guys do that, I'll try prying this steel door open. It'll take some time, but I should have us outta here in only a few minutes." Murray stated before approaching the cold steel security door that kept them locked up in the control room, claiming that he could pry it open and bust them out in a short moment.

"Alright, sounds like a plan big guy. Good luck down there Bentley, and remember to contact me so I can help you from up here." Sly stated as he nodded in agreement with Murray's plan into prying open the door on their side while wishing his turtle friend/teammate good luck once he was outside and reminded him to call him through their walkie-talkies so he could assist him through control room computer console.

Without wasting another second, Bentley had jumped and slid down the pipe, reaching the ground floor of the main sawmill. After he witnessed his friend/teammate slide down the pipe, the raccoon had helped Neyla onto her feet and sat her down on a crate to help her rest, before leaning in and locking lips in a loving passionate kiss. Once his tigress was resting to regain her strength so they could escape, Sly had approached the computer console and contacted his friend through their walkie-talkie after hearing a 'thump' from outside and underneath the control room.

"Bentley, are you alright?! I can't see you from up here, but I heard the fall!" The raccoon stated through the walkie-talkie, asking his friend if he was alright after hearing the 'thud' which clearly showed he landed on the ground ground floor.

"I'm alright. Just give me a sec to catch my...breath..." Bentley answered back from his end, claiming he was alright and simply needed a second to catch his breath...before staring wide-eyed after seeing none other than Jean Bison staring right at him!

"Well now Candy Britches...I shoulda figured a puny four-eyed turtle like you would find a rat-hole to squirm through!" Bison stated casually after seeing the nerdy turtle land on the ground floor and was disgusted at himself for not having the gaps in the control room patched up!

"Well, I, uh...just dropped my glasses and had to come pick them up." The turtle lamely countered, claiming he simply 'dropped' his glasses down the pipe and came down after them to pick them up...which was complete pathetic lie.

"I ain't like you boy: I ain't stupid! When y'all were unconscious, me and my boys paid a little visit to your hideout, which Neyla no doubtingly told ya about...and we found all them Clockwerk Parts. A lucky thing too: 'cause Arpeggio was willing to plunk down a king's ransom for the whole lot! I even through threw in the Talons to sweeten the deal." The red furred buffalo coldly countered, not believing his pathetic lie and revealed to Bentley what had happened after he, Sly, Murray and Neyla were captured and unconscious: after he and his men broke into their safe house and found all the Clockwerk Parts they stole from the previous Klaww Gang members...he contacted Arpeggio and made his boss an offer he couldn't resist: a huge sum of money for all the Parts, including the Talons!

"You sold **ALL** the Clockwerk Parts?! Arpeggio has them **ALL**?!" Bentley screamed in complete shock, after hearing what the red furred bison had done after he and his friends were knocked unconscious!

 _~Back in the control room~_

Sly Neyla and Murray had heard their turtle friend's screams after hearing from Bison that he sold and gave all their Clockwerk Parts to Arpeggio...and the raccoon merely dropped his family cane in complete shock before collapsing to his knees. Neyla picked herself up from the crate and approached her lover, while their hippo friend simply frowned after seeing how distraught his friend and leader after hearing what Bison had done with the parts they stole from him and previous members of the Klaww Gang.

"Sly? My love...please look at me." The tigress requested softly, as she wrapped her arms around her devastated raccoon as he was taking in deep breathes to control the level of stress and despair that was coursing throughout his body while Murray continued to pry the steel door open.

"All the Clockwerk Parts we worked so hard to steal: the Tail Feathers, Wings, Heart, Eyes, Stomach and Lungs...they're all gone Neyla." Sly answered softly, with a tone of tiredness and despair clearly being heard in his voice after learning that Bison had sold all their Parts, along with the Talons to Arpeggio.

"And we'll get them back my love after we sneak on board Arpeggio blimp's. All we've got to do is reach the battery once we get out of this place." Neyla stated softly while comforting her distraught lover, reassuring him that they would steal all their Parts back from the British Parrot after they sneaked aboard his blimp...and that was all the inspiration that her raccoon needed as they both stood up together.

"Neyla...thank you. You're right...we can't give up: not when there's a chance we can steal all the Parts back." Sly stated while turning to his tigress, thanking her for helping overcome the despair that was taking over him and the two lovers shared a burning passionate kiss, with Murray softly smiling at the sight as he glanced over his shoulder while continuing to work on the locked and sturdy security door.

 _~Back on the ground floor with Bentley and Jean Bison~_

"I wouldn't expect one of your kind to understand the finer points of commerce. You turtles are far too stupid to tell the difference between a wood cutter from a wood chuck!" The red furred bison coldly spat, stating that the turtle wouldn't understand the meaning of doing business and further insulting his species by claiming all turtle were just plain incompetent...which simply angered him further.

"That's it! Time I showed you just how 'stupid' we turtles really are!" Bentley angrily countered, showing he just had about enough of Bison's big mouth and annoying habit of belittling his species: claiming that he and all turtles were stupid and worthless!

"Sly, get ready on my command!" He ordered through the walkie-talkies, informing his friend that it was time to put the sawmill equipment to work!

"I read you, pal. Teach that son of a bitch redneck a lesson for all of us!" Sly answered, as he walked up behind the main computer console and turned it on, which activated the three main pieces of equipment that was used in the sawmill: a control to the four ground furnaces, a control to the large sized saw blades and a control to the logs that were hanging from the roof.

"Prepare yourself Bison. En garde!" The turtle stated while glaring with complete content at the old miner, as the buffalo had ruined everything he and his team worked so hard far and now he was going to pay for it!

"Okay Walnut...get ready for a smushen." The red furred bison growled with a glare of his own, as he was looking forward to smashing the nerdy turtle with his own two hands!

As soon as Bison had charged in to pummel Bentley with his staff, the turtle was able to outmaneuver the bovine due to his smaller status and called out to Sly through their walkie-talkies: telling him to either scorch Bison with the furnaces, flatten him with the logs or attack with the saw blades! The battle had started out going very well for the turtle, as Bison had never managed to land a single hit due to him being much faster than the old miner and was getting easily winded, from having to chase him around the battle field. Half way through the battle, Bison had called for several of his men to help even the odds for him...which disgusted Bentley since Bison was very similar to Rajan: they both preferred letting their pathetic excuse for 'hired help' do all the dirty work while they back and watched!

While battling the idiot lackeys, their boss had also lit and tossed multiple stick of dynamite...which had made the fight between them a bit more dangerous, but thanks to witnessing Sly evading explosives over the years, the turtle managed to avoid being caught in the blast radius...almost of Bison's men weren't that quick enough. The battle was soon over, as Bison heavily exhausted and wounded from the relentless blows dealt by the furnaces cooking/burning his fur covered body, the saw blades cutting into his skin and heavy logs painfully landing on top of him. The final blow that ended their fight, was Sly dropping one final log that fell and landed down hard on Bison: sending him sprawled out laying on his stomach on the cold and hard wooden floor with the leg over his back.

"Tarnation! I've been done in by some four-eyed turtle?! Times have changed..." The red furred buffalo cried out, not believing that he'd been defeated by the small nerdy amphibian...but accepted it along with how the world had changed while he was frozen alive for 120 years.

"Once again, brains triumph over brawn!" Bentley stated with a deep sense of satisfaction, as he had defeated Bison as retribution for the beating Neyla endured while trying to protect their safe house and Clockwerk Parts and selling them to Arpeggio, in order for him to accomplish his true and mysterious goal.

Shortly after the fight was over, Murray had finally opened the security door to the sawmill control room. Once the door was unlocked, Sly Murray and Neyla had jumped down to the ground floor and congratulated their turtle friend on job well done: with the hippo playfully lifting Bentley over hear and Neyla panting a soft kiss on his forehead, while thanking him for getting back at Bison for the beating he had his thugs give her...which caused the turtle to blush madly, as no one had ever given him a kiss on the forehead before. However, their celebration was short-lived...as one of Bison's men had just activated the main sawmill's intercom.

"Um, attention Jean Bison. Arpeggio's carrier blimp will to arrive to pick up the Northern Light battery in exactly one minute." The thug announced, informing his boss, whilst not knowing that he had been defeated, that Arpeggio's blimp would be arriving to pick up the battery in only one minute!

"Alright, enough patting ourselves on the backs. Our only chance to stealing back the Clockwerk Parts is by sneaking aboard Arpeggio blimp." Bentley stated, urgently reminding his friends that they didn't have the time to celebrate that Jean Bison was defeated and how their only shot at recovering their Clockwerk Parts was by infiltrating the British parrot's blimp.

"The silo battery isn't far. If we run, we can make it!" Sly replied in agreement while pointing out that the silo containing the Northern Light battery wasn't far from the main sawmill and if they ran, they could sneak inside before Arpeggio's blimp arrived.

"Enough talk, let's move!" Murray ordered, knowing they were wasting time talking and his friends nodded in agreement as they all broke into a fast run!

"Hurry you guys! That blimp will be here any moment now!" Neyla cried out as she, her raccoon lover and teammates sprinted out of the main sawmill and headed right towards the silo...with only a few second to spare before Arpeggio's arrived to pick up and fly away with the device.

Thankfully, Sly and his team had managed to reach the silo with only a few seconds to spare: Murray had tossed Bentley up onto the silo while he, Sly and Neyla used the trampoline to join their friend/teammate. The hippo had then opened the hatch and swiftly closed it after he and his friends jumped down into the silo and entered the Northern Light battery. The raccoon and his team had sat in the pitch black inside the device for in complete silence, not one of them daring to say a word in fear of Jean Bison's would hear and find them.

After sitting in silence for what felt like five-six minutes, Sly and his team had sat completely still and glanced around inside the battery..until they suddenly felt it! They all gasped in shock as they felt the silo battery being lifted off the ground and glanced out through the small grating inside the battery and they couldn't believe what they were seeing: they were being lifted into the sky by Arpeggio's blimp!

However...as the raccoon and his team sat inside the battery, they all felt the same feeling coursing deep inside them: failure. All their Clockwerk Parts were gone: stolen from Bison who sold them to Arpeggio for his grand scheme...which remained completely unknown to them. As they continued to sit in the battery, Sly had merely cradled Neyla's head on his lap, as she had laid down to rest so she was 100% when they came up with a plan to steal back their Parts from her former 'master'. Bentley had taken out pen and a notepad from his shell and began scribbling down a number of plans that could theoretically work while Murray...he simply weeped while glancing out the battery. What did the hippo that caused him to cry? The team van floating away on a block of ice out on the ocean.

Sly and Bentley merely looked at their friend with sympathetic eyes: that van was Murray's entire life the day he found it and they had made it their mobile home. The raccoon knew that once they had destroyed the Clockwerk Parts and put an end to the ancient owl...he would have to find a way to make it up to his hippo friend foster brother, even if it meant he'd have to search for the van personally.

 **A/N: There is it everyone, the Operation: Canada Games chapter! I would like to apologize for the huge delay: I know that I promised my fellow Fanfic authors and reviews that I'd have this chapter before Christmas or midnight tonight...but I was distracted with celebrating New Years and watching the countdown on TV with my folks. But what matters it that its finished and I hope you guys enjoy. The first chapter to the Anatomy for Disaster episode will be posted sometime this week or next weekend, until then have a good night and Happy New Years! Welcome to the year 2020!**


	25. Anatomy for Disaster Pt 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any of its characters, except my OC**

 **Hello everyone, here is the first half to the Anatomy for Disaster chapter: where Sly and Neyla infiltrate Arpeggio's main blimp for a recon mission...only to make a horrifying discovery and witness...an unexpected and grisly transformation regarding a certain hated corrupt vixen.**

 **Reviews and comments will be appreciated.**

 **Chapter 25: Anatomy for Disaster, Pt. 1**

 _'There we were: traveling east over the Atlantic Ocean as stowaways on a giant airborne fortress.'_ Sly mentally stated, as he and team sat down in their new temporary 'safe house': the now useless Northern Light battery they had rendered inoperable during their flight, which made it worthless to Arpeggio's master plan.

 _'Though time was short, we went over all the information Neyla had provided us about our mysterious and unknowing host: Arpeggio. While attending a prestigious boarding school as a child, he had excelled at all subjects intellectually and was at the top of his class than his classmates...but could never keep up with the other boys physically. Sadly his wings, due to their small size...made them completely useless for flight.'_ The raccoon stated in his mind, as he and his friends went over all the information that his tigress lover had given them, both from the flash drive and Neyla herself when she was actually served her former 'master': how the British parrot had attended an elite boarding school as a child and although he had exceeded at all school subjects due to his highly intellectual mind...but failed to keep up with his classmates physically, as his body stayed small and inept for flying while the other students grew and their wings became perfect for flight.

 _'Furious at his feeble body, he focused his powerful mind to search for a cure...which he found in the ancient works of the Italian Renaissance Masters. Their notebooks provided the springboard for this sinister young genius...along with his obsession with Clockwerk himself, as Neyla had told us that Arpeggio had spent the last two years studying up on the robotic owl.'_ Sly mentally stated as his tigress lover had told him, Murray and Bentley how her former boss was furious at his own body: being denied the ability to fly and became focused on discovering a 'cure' to obtain his deepest desire...which he found in the ancient machinery designs and blue prints of the Italian Renaissance Masters and more importantly, being strangely fascinated in the ancient owl who stalked and hunted his family line ever since the Ancient Egyptian era.

 _'Arpeggio, who isn't just the leader of the Klaww Gang, but is also the chief inventor and according Neyla...he was the one who repaired the Clockwerk Parts for Dimitri, Rajan, Contessa and Jean Bison to use for their demented schemes...and now this mastermind is in possession of all the parts._ The raccoon mentally added, as he and his team learned from Neyla that the British parrot was not just the leader/founder of the Klaww Gang...but was also their chief engineer: how he had repaired the parts they had stolen from the previous Klaww Gang members and now had all the parts in his possession!

 _'It'll only be a matter of time before he puts them back together and when that happens...well, I'm not going to let that happen.'_ He mentally concluded with a strong look of determination on his face, showing he would not allow Arpeggio to reassemble his family clan's arch rival/enemy for his mysterious grande scheme.

While Murray and Bentley had rearranged a few number of items in their temporary 'hideout' and began setting up the briefing table and slide show projector, Sly and Neyla had exited the safe house and the raccoon stared wide-eyed from what he and his tigress had saw before their eyes: how Arpeggio's 'blimp' was an incredibly **gigantic** fortress: being built by modern day hot air balloons, propellers and other 15th/16th century aircraft pieces deigned by the Italian Renaissance!

"Damn...this is a **blimp**?" The raccoon asked, as he couldn't believe his own eyes after he and his feline lover stepped out of their hideout and onto the large aircraft, as it made the blimp Contessa owned look like a mere hot air balloon!

"Indeed Ringtail. Arpeggio had...let's say invested a lot of time and money to obtain his deepest desire." Neyla answered, while not really surprised how her former 'master's' base of operations looked like...due to her time traveling on the airship while actually working for the Klaww Gang and how the 'blimp' served as a surrogate means of flying into the sky.

"I'm pretty sure **that** is the understatement of the year." Sly muttered softly while shaking his head, stating that the British parrot was taking his obsession with flight way too seriously, with his lover nodding in agreement.

After swiftly recovering from the shock of seeing Arpeggio base of operations, the raccoon knew he and his tigress needed to hurry...as her former boss had no doubtingly began putting the ancient robotic owl together from his artificial organs and body parts. Fortunately for the two lovers, the airship had plenty means of gaining higher altitude: pipes/ropes to climb up and walk/run across, propellers and more importantly...large towers for them to deploy their paragliders to get across the 'blimp' much faster. Thanks to the alternate methods of sneaking past Arpeggio's incompetent Toucan guards and their athletic abilities, Sly and Neyla had managed to navigate around the gigantic airship and reach their designated RV point, which was located on top of a port cabin on the upper deck of the stern. Once the two lovers approached their RV point, they had pulled out their Binocucoms.

"Sly, my instruments have detected large magnetic fields radiating from the inside of that blimp. If Arpeggio has already started reassembling Clockwerk, that's where you and Neyla will find him." Bentley stated as he informed his raccoon and tigress friends that his computers had picked up abnormal activity coming from Arpeggio personal blimp, which he fairly guessed was where the parrot was no doubtingly rebuilding Clockwerk.

"Sounds good, we're on our way." Sly stated with a strong determined look on his face, alongside his tigress lover as she placed her hand over his: showing she was with him all the way till the end.

"We can't afford any mistakes on this one Sly. In order for us to form a plan, we need to know how close they are to reviving Clockwerk." The turtle replied back while reminding his friend and leader that this recon mission was their only shot at discovering how close Arpeggio was to reassembling the ancient robotic owl for his twisted master plan.

"There's no need to worry to Bentley. Sly and I will get you those recon photos, we promise." Neyla answered, reassuring her turtle friend that she and Sly had the situation under control and promising they would get him the reconnaissance photos he needed to form a plan to destroy the Clockwerk Parts once and for all before they broke contact.

"Ready for this love?" The tigress asked softly while turning to her lover, as this was their only chance at discovering how close her former 'master' was to rebuilding the ancient robotic owl.

"Born ready my beautiful tigress. Let's do this." Her raccoon answered with a casual smile, which she warmly mirrored before they leaned in and locked lips in a sweet passionate kiss: wishing the other to be safe once they sneaked inside the blimp.

Once they were mentally prepared for their confrontation with Arpeggio, the two lovers had climbed up the balloon tether anchored to the roof of the cabin, jumped and deployed their paragliders. Thanks to the steady wind drift, the raccoon and tigress had sailed over to the blimp and landed safely on top of the right wing. After they landed directly on the wing, Sly and Neyla had climbed a rope running up the side of the blimp where the raccoon smashed open a grating to a vent with his cane, which the two lovers crawled through and sneaked inside the massive aircraft.

However...once they entered the British parrot's personal blimp undetected, the raccoon and his tigress stared wide-eyed in shock...as their fears were confirmed: as they were staring directly at a fully rebuilt Clockwerk, being suspended directly in the center of the main room!

 _'No. No, no! This can't be!'_ Sly mentally shouted, not believing his own two eyes that Arpeggio had actually rebuilt his family clan's arch-rival and enemy in a short matter of time!

 _'Bison...you...you stupid greedy redneck son of a bitch! You ruined everything!'_ Neyla mentally cried out, also not believing that her former master rebuilt the ancient robotic owl and cursed Jean Bison's name, as he provided Arpeggio all the parts he needed to reassemble Clockwerk!

After they recovered from the initial shock, the raccoon and his tigress pulled out their Binocucoms and contacted Bentley.

"I...I had no idea they could reassemble Clockwerk so fast!" The turtle cried out in shock, showing he was just as completely stunned that the British parrot had went straight to work in rebuilding the robotic owl after Bison sold him all the parts they had stolen from the previous Klaww Gang members!

"Calm down Bentley. He might be in one piece...but, he doesn't appear to be...you know 'alive.'" Sly stated calmly, reassuring his shaken friend/tech support that even though Arpeggio had succeeded in rebuilding him...that Clockwerk didn't seem to be sentient, like he was at back at the Krakarov Volcano in Russia two years ago.

"Sly's right Bentley. He appears to be...completely inanimate. How about we stick to the plan and take those recon photos?" The tigress stated, agreeing with her raccoon lover on how the robotic owl seemed to be just like any ordinary deactivated machine and suggested that they stick to their main objective, which was taking the needed recon photos.

"You guys are right. We need to be informed to create a plan of action. Try to take a photo of Clockwerk's head, a Mech egg and one of those spinning magnetic inducers: they seem to important to the procedure...but be sure to avoid those guards at all times! If you or Neyla get caught...we won't have time for a second chance." Their turtle friend stated after recovering from the initial shock of seeing Clockwerk's fully rebuilt body, agreeing with the two lovers and pointing out the three main objects of interest: Clockwerk's head, a mechanical egg and one of the four spinning platforms...and asking them to avoid being spotted by the four Toucan guards patrolling the center of the room before the three of them broke contact.

After the raccoon and his tigress withdrew their Binocucoms, they went straight to work at taking the recon photos that Bentley requested in order to think of a plan to destroy Clockwerk before Arpeggio had brought him back online and thanks to their ninja like reflexes...avoided being spotted by the Toucans mindlessly walking back and forth the center of the room. While Neyla had worked her way across the room, Sly used his Sleeping Box gadget to put the Toucan patrolling up and down the main staircase fast asleep. Once the moronic guard was in dreamland, the raccoon had dropped down from the vent he and his tigress crawled through, drew out his Binocucom and took a recon photo of the mysterious metal egg designed devices.

"My sensors here at the hideout are picking up high levels of radioactivity from inside those Mech eggs. We should avoid contact with those things at all times." Bentley stated, informing his raccoon friend that his equipment was detecting high levels of radiation stored inside the mechanical eggs and advised that they avoided the hazardous devices at all times.

After witnessing her lover putting the idiot lackey to sleep with the Music Box gadget, the tigress had easily avoided the remaining three Toucan guards protecting the walkway in the center of the blimp and climbed up the pipes connected to an archway that led straight to the main office and gave her the perfect vantage point of Clockwerk's head and one of the spinning inducers.

"Clockwerk seems to be completely inanimate. We still might a chance to destroy him!" Her turtle friend stated, after clearly seeing that Sly was right about the robotic owl not being sentient...which meant they still had a chance to destroy Clockwerk before Arpeggio could somehow literally bring him 'back to life'.

"These magnetic inducers seem to be holding the Clockwerk Parts together." He added, as he could that the four electro-platforms rotating around the room were somehow the key to keeping Clockwerk's lifeless body intact.

"Sly, Neyla. I'm picking up two voices coming from the front of the blimp...I think it could be Arpeggio." Bentley stated, informing his raccoon and tigress friends/teammates that he had detected two different voices originating from the front of the blimp and identified one of the voices as Arpeggio's!

Surprised to hear that someone else besides them was also on the blimp, Sly had easily sneaked past the three Toucans guarding the center of the room by using a trampoline and landing directly on Clockwerk's lifeless robotic body. After he landed on the back of the ancient owl, the wily raccoon had tossed out a single alarm clock that sent the three idiot guards running towards the far left corner of the room. Once the clueless guards were easily distracted, much to Sly's and Neyla's amusement, the two lovers had walked up the ramp underneath the archway and stopped...as their eyes widened from a combination of anger and shock after seeing whom was in the main office through the pink tinted glass: Arpeggio with none other than a much hated and corrupt vixen, Carmelita Fox!

"Carmelita...she's here?!" The turtle cried out surprised, as they had no Intel to suggest that the vixen would also be on the British parrot's blimp!

"Of course she would be here! Arpeggio no doubting commanded that backstabbing bitch to be present for whatever he has planned with Clockwerk's body!" Neyla softly rebuffed through their team ear radio's, claiming that her former 'master' wanted Carmelita to bare witness to his twisted master plan...that obviously involved the newly reassembled robotic owl before she and Sly drew out their Binocucoms once again.

"There he is guys, Arpeggio: the evil mastermind behind this highly sophisticated aircraft, founder of the Klaww Gang...and source of all our problems." Bentley stated with a deep sense of contempt detected in his voice towards the British parrot, as he had rebuilt the robotic owl whom had stalked and hunted his friend and leader's family clan since Ancient Egypt for his own mysterious and sinister goal.

"I can't believe it Sly...and to think she was once an honest cop." He added after the raccoon had taken a photograph of Carmelita with a hint of disgust in his voice: as she started out as a decorated cop who swore to uphold the law...and spiraled down a dark path and allied herself with the Klaww Gang simply because he fell in love with Neyla.

 _'Carmelita...you used to be one of the best law enforcement officers in the entire world. We may have been on opposite sides of the law the day we first met...but I always respected and admired your dedication to the force. What the hell happened to you?'_ Sly mentally stated while shaking his head in both disgust and disappointment, as he could never understand how the vixen he once had romantic feelings for could go from being a dedicated and honest cop who swore an oath to protect and serve to a sadistic and coldblooded traitor simply because he chose Neyla over her.

Once he and his tigress lover had taken the photos of Arpeggio and Carmelita inside his office, they swiftly turned around and glanced directly at Clockwerk's lifeless body dangling above the center of the room.

"I don't need to study those photos to interpret the writing on the wall: obviously Carmelita has conspired with Arpeggio to revive Clockwerk...and they are dangerously close to realizing their goal." Bentley stated, claiming he didn't need the recon photos to clearly see that both the British parrot and corrupt vixen had decided to work together to reassemble the ancient owl...but for own their separate goals, as they instantly remembered Carmelita stating back in Canada that she had a plan of her own that involved around all the parts.

"Look Bentley, I know this isn't your style...but Neyla and I need a quick plan of attack. Try to think of a way...any way to stop Clockwerk from being reassembled!" Sly stated in a calm but firm tone, knowing that rushing into a situation without having all the facts wasn't his friend/teammate's style...but asked for a quick plan of action to prevent his family clan's arch-rival/enemy from being brought back into their world!

"Well...this might be a long shot, but...those magnetic inducers seem to be holding the parts together. If you and Neyla reverse their polarity...it should pull Clockwerk apart." His turtle friend suggested, as he could tell right away that the four electro-platforms spinning around the center of the room were somehow keeping the Clockwerk Parts in place and explained to his friends/teammates that if the magnetic force emitting from the inducers were reversed...it would no doubtingly disassemble the inanimate robotic owl!

"But unfortunately, the inducer speed control station is locked down tight. You guys will need to pickpocket the four patrolling guards in order to get at it." The turtle added, informing his raccoon and tigress friends that the computer console connected to all four platforms was locked down and how they needed to relief the four idiot Toucans walking directly underneath the ancient robotic owl of their keys to gain access to the controls.

"Consider it done Bentley." Neyla stated, as she and her raccoon understood that reversing the polarity to the inducers was their only chance to prevent Arpeggio and Carmelita from reviving Clockwerk before they broke contact.

Lifting the keys off the useless and idiot lackeys was extremely easy for the two lovers: as Sly had tossed out another alarm clock that blared and skidded right in the middle of the walkway...which sent all four Toucans running to investigate and cawed in confusion after only finding fragments of the clock. Once all four clueless guards were together and glancing around the source of the loud ringing...the wily raccoon had winded up and tossed out a music box right towards their direction and smiled as the Toucans slowly drifted off to sleep, alongside his tigress before they approached the sleeping guards and relieved them of their keys. After they had obtained all four keys, the two lovers had used the trampoline on the left side of the room to jump/land directly on top of Clockwerk, climbed up the front cable holding up his left wing and deployed their paragliders, sailing towards the locked down control station.

Once Sly had unlocked and removed the padlocks off the control panel to the magnetic inducers, he allowed Neyla to pull down the main lever which caused all four electro-platforms to slow down.

"Great work Sly. Now that the inducer decks are spinning slower, this is your and Neyla's chance to reverse the polarity of each platform." Bentley stated through the team ear radio's, congratulating the raccoon and tigress on unlocking the controls to the terminal and instructing them to climb up the cables in order to reach the inducers.

 _'Please...let this work.'_ The raccoon mentally begged, praying for their plan to work as he couldn't bear the thought of the ancient owl to continue plaguing his family line...to orphan his own future children, just like Clockwerk had done to him when he murdered his parents on the night he was supposed to inherit the Thievius Raccoonus.

Not needing to be told twice, the two lovers had climbed the front and rear cables holding Clockwerk wings and keeping the robotic owl suspended in the center of the walkway. While the raccoon climbed up the left/right cables to glide over and land on top of the two electro-platforms in front of his family clan's ancient enemy, his tigress lover climbed up the rear cables and glided over to the inducers behind the robotic owl. After they had reversed the polarity of all four magnetic inducers, Sly and Neyla had landed safely on the walkway...and witnessed Clockwerk's inanimate body land hard in the center of the room, with the wings folded behind his back and his beak opening wide open due to the impact from the fall!

Before they could finish the job, the raccoon and tigress glanced towards the front of the blimp and took cover behind the imposts of the archway, as Arpeggio and Carmelita had stepped out of the main office after feeling and hearing the huge crash.

"What's all this then? The magnets have been reversed?! But...By Jove! It seems to have locked the Clockwerk Parts into place! Excellent!" The parrot exclaimed as he stared completely surprised that the magnetic inducers had been 'mysteriously' reversed, but was overjoyed as the result of the fall had actually prepared the robotic owl's lifeless body for his master plan...while Sly and Neyla had horrified expressions on their faces, as they couldn't believe that reversing the inducers had actually made things worse!

The moment Arpeggio 'wheeled' down the ramp with Carmelita right behind her new boss and they walked underneath the archway to approach Clockwerk's body, the raccoon and tigress had stepped out from behind cover to confront the British parrot and corrupt vixen who reassembled the robotic owl.

"Cooper?! I should've known you and your bitch girlfriend were behind this!" The vixen cried out while glaring hatefully at the sight of the raccoon and tigress, as they were the only ones capable of eliminating the four sentries ordered to keep an eye out for intruders and attempting to destroy the ancient owl!

"Ah, Mr. Cooper...so we finally meet, face to face and Neyla...to say that it is a complete delight to see you again, even though you had the audacity to betray me and our organization to side with the Cooper Gang would be a complete lie." Arpeggio stated while acting like a proper and civilized gentleman, greeting the raccoon who went after his associates to steal their Clockwerk Parts and his former 'protege', whom glared at her former 'master' who only used her talents for his own schemes.

"No doubtingly, you both hoped that a reversal would pull the old bird apart, eh? But it seems to have quite the opposite effect...and I am truly grateful. When fully powered up, I'll join myself to its circuits and be born anew." The parrot continued, suspecting that the two lovers hoped that by reversing the magnetic polarity to the inducers, that Clockwerk would fall apart...and gloated how their plan failed while thanking them, as they had actually set the stage perfectly for the final step.

"All this because you can't fly. You're pathetic." Sly remarked while crossing his arms and shaking his head, calling Arpeggio pathetic while thinking the main reason he wanted to enter Clockwerk's body simply because he was incapable of flying...only to be shocked by the parrot's true reason for wanting all the parts.

"Immortality! Immortality is what I seek. The other Klaww Gang were much too narrow sighted: they were satisfied with using their Clockwerk Parts to drive their various trivial schemes...but not me, no. For I saw them for what they truly were: the keys to life eternal!" Arpeggio swiftly countered, revealing that is was immortality he truly wished to obtain and explaining how his fellow Klaww Gang members were content with using their own Clockwerk Part for their own meaningless schemes while he saw the parts for what they truly were: the keys to unlocking eternal life!

"So that's what this is all about...But if you were disgusted with how Dimitri, Rajan, Contessa and Bison were using their Clockwerk Parts, why split them at all after stealing them from the Natural Museum in Cairo?" Neyla stated as she and her raccoon were stunned to hear what he was truly after and demanded to know something: if the British parrot was disgusted with how the other Klaww Gang members were using the Parts they walked away with...why not just keep them all for himself instead of splitting them.

"Isn't it obvious, my dear? Bison and the others served their purpose with the Clockwerk Parts that I repaired and allowed them to take...which proved invaluable for both our spice shipping operation and more importantly...the long run." The parrot answered, revealing the reason why he chose to split the Parts with the other Klaww Gang members was so they could play their parts in his master plan perfectly: Dimitri financing their spice operation with his counterfeit money, Rajan providing them the spice plants, the Contessa performing her 'experiments' on people who ate food covered in the illegal substance and Bison, whom was in charge of transporting the spice.

"You wanted me and my friends to steal the Clockwerk Parts from the other Klaww Gang members..." Sly stated softly in complete shock, as he soon realized that Arpeggio wanted him, Neyla, Murray and Bentley to steal the parts from Dimitri, Rajan, Contessa and Jean Bison while crippling and destroying their spice shipping operation!

"Guilty, but acquiring the parts was only half the equation. Think Cooper...what kept Clockwerk alive for thousands of years?" The parrot answered, admitting that he had manipulated the raccoon and his team the entire time: having them steal the Clockwerk Parts he had given his associates so he could rebuild Clockwerk and ask Sly a rather dark question: if he knew what kept the ancient owl alive for thousands of years...which he unfortunately did.

"...He was fueled by his hatred for my family." He answered softly while glancing down to the floor, stating that the robotic owl was consumed by his hatred and jealously towards his family line, while Neyla reached for and held her lover's hand in her own, which helped comfort him as he revealed what kept his family clan's ancient rival and enemy alive.

"Splendid, that's right! Hatred! Putting his gears and wires together was mere child's play compared with accumulating that much hatred." Arpeggio replied while somewhat pleased from seeing how disheartened the raccoon was from recounting what kept the robotic owl alive to haunt his family clan for thousands of years.

"But you can't make people hate." Neyla countered, stating that her former master couldn't simply make people hate...which caused him to laugh at her choice of words.

"Oh, you poor naive girl Neyla...my meticulous mind has found a way. As you and your boyfriend no doubtingly know, spice consumption makes anyone whose eaten it both angry **and** susceptible to hypnosis. The Contessa, hypnotist extraordinaire, devised a means to command her test subjects through the use of flashing lights. I've created this blimp to be a massive transmitter of those precise light frequencies. The only problem I faced was finding a suitable source of light waves." The British parrot replied, revealing that he already developed a means of making people hate while reminding the two lovers of the illegal substance's highly dangerous effects of people: how it made the person who ate it extremely angry and easy to brainwash through hypnosis thanks to the Contessa 'experiments' on her prisoners: as she discovered a method of giving commands to her 'test subjects' by using flashing lights and how the blimp was actually a transmitter to give off the same light frequencies.

"The Northern Lights! You've been gathering Northern Light energy to hypnotize everyone underneath the blimp!" Sly cried out, as he and his tigress stared shocked as they soon realized that Arpeggio was the cause of what they and their friends/teammates witnessed back in Canada: how he had been collecting the energy from the Northern Lights so he could hypnotize people that were directly underneath the aircraft!

"Ah, hypnotize those that had eaten food covered in illegal spice! Thank goodness for Dimitri. Through his nightclub, he got the whole city to consume the spice." He corrected, stating that he only planned to hypnotize people that had eaten food covered in spice...and revealing that Dimitri had gotten the entire city of Paris to eat the illegal substance through his nightclub before his arrest!

"You're going to Paris to unleash a hypnotic light show of hate...you're insane." The raccoon stated after discovering what the parrot truly planned with Clockwerk's lifeless body and calling him insane as he wanted to unleash a hypnotic light show that would drive the people of Paris mad, especially as they ate food covered in illegal space through Dimitri's nightclub before they ended his counterfeit operation and stole the Tail Feathers.

"Not to mention completely cruel." Neyla stated right after her lover, with a look of great disgust towards her former master after hearing what his grand plan was...but they were unable to make a move to stop him, as Carmelita had her shock pistol drawn out the entire time her boss chatted with the raccoon and tigress.

"Cruel, perhaps...But necessary to give Clockwerk his spark of immorality! Ah well...my new body awaits me. Be a dear Carmelita and keep them preoccupied so they can't stop the inevitable. Ta-ta!" Arpeggio replied, not really caring if his master plan was morally demented as it would help revive the ancient owl and ordering the vixen to make sure that the tigress and her lover couldn't stop him from entering Clockwerk's body before 'wheeling' towards the owl's open maw.

However...much to Arpeggio's complete shock and dismay, the corrupt vixen had performed and landed a swift roundhouse kick that knocked his 'birdcage' and apparatus down, much to Sly's and Neyla's bewilderment from this turn of events!

"Carmelita? What is the meaning of..." The parrot cried out, surprised that his current protege had just betrayed him, just like the tigress while she glanced at him with a smug and dark grin on her face!

"You're an idiot Arpeggio. I betrayed my oath as a cop and Interpol so I could have my revenge against Cooper and Neyla...and I will have it. If anybody is entering Clockwerk's body...it's going to be me!" Carmelita coldly answered, belittling her immobilized boss and bringing up the fact that she betrayed Interpol and everything she stood for as a cop for her desire to kill to the raccoon who broke her heart and tigress who stole her criminal from her...before jumping inside Clockwerk's mouth and entering his lifeless body...which came to life after a few short seconds!

"This is preposterous! You're my new protege, not the next candidate to inherit my immortality! I demand that you exit the Clockwerk Frame or... **OR**...!" Arpeggio cried out, enraged that he had betrayed by another 'student' and commanded the vixen to exit Clockwerk's body...which fell on deaf ears, before the newly revived robotic owl had crushed the defenseless British parrot with her beak!

Both Sly and Neyla backed away in fear, as they couldn't believe what they just witnessed as the parrot's eye glass rolled right in front of their feet: Carmelita had just betrayed Arpeggio and killed him right in front of them as soon as she entered Clockwerk's body and somehow became one with the ancient owl! Once she killed her former 'master', the newly revived robotic owl flapped its wings and spoke in a familiar but now robotic voice.

 _ **"Behold...Clock-Lita is born! I'll be back for you and little bitch girlfriend, Neyla, Cooper...and I intend to savor every second of crushing you both with my new body, especially once I become immortal!"** _The newly created and fused robotic owl/vixen cried out, christening her as 'Clock-Lita' and vowing to keep her promise: to kill the two lovers with her new body after obtaining the power of immortality and took to the air, destroying the glass to the pilot house in front of the blimp and circling the aircraft once outside!

"Not if we can help it Clock-Lita!" Sly cried out, showing he wouldn't let the robotic owl/vixen hybrid kill his tigress lover and his team while glaring hatefully at the abomination that the corrupt vixen had became after she entered Clockwerk's inanimate body.

"Let's head back to the hide out Ringtail. We need to tell Bentley and Murray everything about what just happened." Neyla stated softly before picking up the now deceased Arpeggio's eye piece and placing it inside her leg pouch...even though the parrot was flawed, not even he deserved to die the way he did: being crushed to death by Clock-Lita's beak.

Knowing that his tigress was correct, that their friends and teammates needed to be informed about the current situation...especially after discovering from Arpeggio before his betrayal/death what the blimp truly was and how Clock-Lita intended to become immortal. Without any further discussion, the two lovers had worked their way back to the hideout: traversing along the cables, climbing up the tethers/hot air balloons and paragliding across the aerial fortress...while making sure to avoid the bombs that the robotic owl/vixen hybrid was dropping on the blimp without any warning!

"Oh, crap! Neyla, watch out!" The raccoon cried out as he glanced up to the sky above them, seeing that the newly created hybrid had just dropped a bomb and warned his feline lover, whom swiftly dove away to avoid the blast radius of the explosive!

"That bitch! She might have a new body...but she's still the backstabbing traitor and coward we all despise!" Neyla growled underneath her breath, while glaring directly at the newly revived robotic owl whom was once her 'partner'.

After surviving Clock-Lita's last minute sneak attack, Sly and his tigress had made it back to the safe house, where Bentley and Murray were anxiously waiting for them to return and were relieved to see their friends alive and well...as they witnessed Clock-Lita dropping bombs all over the aircraft through the glass from the hide out and feared that they were caught in the blast radius of one of the explosives, but never doubted that the two lovers would evade the bombs thanks to their past adventures, especially during their time at the Contessa's castle estate back at Prague. Once they revealed everything that had happened to their hippo and turtle friends, they took their places around the briefing table where Bentley began a slideshow presentation.

"As we all now, the situation has just made a turn for the worse. Carmelita has joined herself to the Clockwerk Frame and fusion has produced...Clock-Lita. She's out and free to terrorize the world. This blimp is still in motion to Paris and we can fairly assume that Arpeggio's autopilot will activate the hate hypnosis light show. If that happens...there'll be no stopping her. She'll become immortal!" The turtle stated as he went over everything Sly and Neyla told him and Murray, how the corrupt vixen had betrayed Arpeggio and murdered him after she entered Clockwerk's body and had became a much dangerous version of the robotic owl who plagued their friend/leader's family for thousands of years and revealing how the blimp's autopilot function would unleash the hate hypnotic light show that would make the owl/vixen hybrid unstoppable and indestructible!

"However...we still have a chance. In her new form, she'll need to draw a lot of energy from the blimp's main four engines to stay strong. If we can destroy the engines...that should be enough to weaken her to a state in which we can attack!" Bentley added while informing his friends that they still had a fighting chance: if they could disable all four engines scattered around throughout the blimp, it could buy them the time they needed to cook up a plan to destroy Clock-Lita before she became immortal and hopefully before they arrived to Paris.

"Getting at the engines will will require all four of us to work in perfect harmony. We've pulled off some tough jobs in the past...but they were just a warm up for what we'll be facing tonight." He stated while explaining to his teammates that attempting to destroy the engines wouldn't be an easy task, as they needed to work in complete sync...but had no doubt in his mind that they could, especially after everything they went through before concluding the presentation.

"Bentley, could I use your laptop well quick?" Neyla asked softly, which surprised her turtle friend due to her request to use the ThiefNet computer.

"What do you need the ThiefNet computer..." Bentley asked, as he was curious to what the tigress needed his laptop for...before it swiftly clicked inside his head, along with Sly's as he knew what his lover planned to do.

"You're going to contact Jack for help, aren't you Neyla?" The raccoon asked, as he remembered the email Howlett anonymously sent them back at the hotel in the Czech Republic, warning them about Carmelita coming after before they headed out to Nunavut Bay and offered his help, if they ever needed it...and was glad that his feline lover was reaching out to the wolf detective, as they would need his help to put an end to Clock-Lita.

"You guessed it right, handsome. Right now, he's the only person at Interpol we can really trust and we need his help to stop Clock-Lita before the blimp reaches Paris." The tigress answered, confirming her lover's and Bentley's hunch while pointing out that her former training partner was the only cop they could trust and could really use his assistance to destroy the robotic owl/vixen hybrid before she became immortal with her friends/teammates agreeing with her judgment.

"You chaps go on ahead outside. I'll catch up after I've contacted Jack." She stated as her turtle friend handed her the ThiefNet computer so she could contact the wolf detective, to inform and warn him of the upcoming threat Clock-Lita would be once she became immortal.

"Alright. Good luck trying to get a message through to Jack. With the time we have left, we're going to need a lot of it." Bentley replied while wishing his tigress friend/teammate the best of luck in trying to reach Howlett before he, Sly and Murray exited the hideout to search for their designated RV points.

Once her raccoon lover and friends had stepped out, Neyla had gone straight to the ThiefNet chatroom and put together an email that would explain the urgency of the upcoming threat to her friend and former training partner.

 _'Jack...my friends and I need your help for a very important task. Carmelita...is no longer of this world. She had secretly allied herself with the Klaww Gang, only to double cross the founder, Arpeggio and murdered him after she entered Clockwerk's body. They had somehow...fused together and she's now calling herself, Clock-Lita. Arpeggio had constructed his blimp to emit a hypnotic light show that will drive the people of Paris insane, due to them unknowingly eating food covered in the illegal spice that Rajan grew and sold back in India. Once the light show begins...it will somehow make Clock-Lita immortal, which I know sounds incredibly hard to believe...but it's true, since hatred was what kept Clockwerk for thousands of years. If that bitch becomes immortal...she'll be impossible to stop and no one will be safe. If you need to discuss this with Barkley...I understand, but I'm asking you as my best friend from our years as recruits and training partners...please help us. ~ Neyla.'_ The tigress had typed down on the laptop, informing the wolf detective that Carmelita had been secretly 'working with' Arpeggio...only to betray the British parrot so she could have access to Clockwerk's lifeless body and fusing with the robotic owl to become the newly fused hybrid she had become and explaining the current situation: how the blimp was headed to Paris to unleash a hypnotic light show that would drive the people who unknowingly ate food covered in the illegal substance that the Klaww Gang grew/harvested crazed by hatred...which was what kept the original Clockwerk alive for thousands of years and implored Jack to help her and her friends to stop Clock-Lita before she became immortal, otherwise no one would be safe from the robotic owl/vixen/hybrid before sending the email to his Inbox.

After sending Howlett the email and hoping that he'd receive it in time before it was too late, Neyla headed outside of the hideout...only to see Sly, Murray and Bentley waiting patiently for her and mirrored the soft smile they had on their faces: as she instinctively knew that her lover and teammates wouldn't head out into the field to pull off their assigned jobs without her there. Without wasting a second, Sly and his team had broke into a fast run and separated to reach their own designated RV points to carry out their job assignments. It hadn't taken the raccoon long to locate his designated RV point, as it was located at the top of the hot air balloon above the starboard furnace, which was not to far from the safe house! After a quick climb up the pole that was right next to the furnace and rope to the top of the balloon, he swiftly drew out his Binocucom and contacted his turtle friend.

"In order to disable that engine room, you and I need to are going to work together." Bentley plainly stated, informing his friend and leader that they would need to work together to destroy the second engine to the blimp to weaken Clock-Lita.

"Happy to have you along Bentley. What do you need me to do?" Sly replied, showing he was more than glad to work alongside his friend and tech support and asked how he could help them get them inside the second engine room.

"I need you to pickpocket the guards keys to the engine room. Once you've got the door open, I'll take over." The turtle answered, instructing his friend to pickpocket the five guards carrying the keys to the engine room and once he unlocked the door, he would take care of the rest.

"Consider it done Bent. You should take your position near the door...It shouldn't take me long to lighten those lamebrain guards of their keys." The raccoon replied, showing he understood what he needed to do in order to help his friend to shutdown the second engine in order to weaken Clock-Lita and instructed the turtle to take his place near the locked door, as it wouldn't take him long to relieve the Toucan guards of their keys before they broke contact.

Thanks to the hooks, pipes and cables that ran underneath the walkways/ramps in the center of the aircraft, he could run along unharmed above the fan blades propelling the blimp, along with the poles and hot air balloons he could climb up and leap off to silently sail through the air with his paraglider, Sly was able to sneak up on the five Toucans without alerting them to his presence. Luckily for the raccoon, locating the first Toucan didn't take long...as he was pacing back and forth on the walkways directly beneath the hideout. After obtaining the first key, the raccoon had sprinted through out the blimp and pick-pocketed the remaining four guards. Once he obtained all five keys, Sly had made his way to the blimp's main upper left stern after running across the fan lift, where he spotted Bentley waiting patiently for him to unlock the lever to the security vent to the engine room.

"Okay Bentley, it's all you. Good luck buddy." The raccoon stated as he unlocked and removed the padlocks to the lever, pulled it and unlocked the vent to the engine room, while wishing his friend/teammate the best of luck in shutting down the second engine as he crawled through the vent.

Once inside Engine Block Beta, Murray contacted Bentley through their team radio's, informing his friend that the lower level of the engine block was protected by a sophisticated security system that Arpeggio no doubtingly himself programmed before Carmelita betrayed and killed him: how he needed to destroy the same set of light bulbs spinning around the lower floor with his crossbow in order to deactivate the security system, but there was a catch - the light bulbs were containing raw electricity that was very lethal and if he destroyed a light bulb that was wasn't above/underneath the one he previous shot...the electricity would kill him instantly.

After he understood what he needed to do in order to reach the upper level of Engine Block Beta, Bentley drew out his crossbow and with steady aim, he managed to blow out every light bulb in the same row without shooting the wrong bulb by mistake which deactivated the security lasers that littered the floor. Once he used a trampoline to reach the 2nd level, Murray contacted him again with further advice: how he needed to bomb the security nodes in order to unlock the security door to gain access and shutdown the engine. After learning what he needed to do in order to destroy Engine Beta, Bentley went straight to work at placing planting bombs to destroy the security nodes, while fending off relentless waves of remote control drones that Arpeggio no doubtingly must've built to protect the engine rooms. Once all the nodes were destroyed and drones were dealt with, the security doors to the engine room slid open, the turtle threw the override switch on the main computer console...which deactivated the engine.

"Great job little buddy. That's one less engine for that creepy Clock-Lita thing to draw power from." Murray stated while congratulating his turtle friend on destroying Engine Block Beta before he headed out to search for his own RV point.

 _~Meanwhile with Murray and Neyla~_

After they exited the safe house, it hadn't taken Murray to locate his RV point: as it was on top of a port propeller motor towards the bow...which was at the right end of the catwalk right near the hide out! Once he approached the RV point by using the trampoline right next to the motor, the hippo pulled out his Binocucom and contacted Neyla.

"Murray, I'm going to need your help in order to get inside that engine room. Sly just told me that Bentley destroyed the second engine, so it's up to us to destroy the first one." The tigress stated, informing her friend and teammate that she required his help to destroy the 1st engine block and revealing that their turtle friend just neutralized Engine Beta.

"I'm always happy to help Neyla. What do you need me to do to help you get in there?" The hippo stated while nodding, showing he was glad to hear that the second engine block was destroyed and asked for his objectives, so he could help his feline teammate take out the blimp's first engine.

"According to Bentley, the door to the second engine room is locked down by five wall-mounted power stations scattered throughout this blimp. I need you to destroy all the power stations and then pry open the door by hand." She answered, informing her hippo friend that the security door to Engine Alpha was powered by five power stations scattered through the massive aircraft and one he destroyed them all, that she needed him to use his raw muscle to pry open the security door to the 1st engine room.

"Consider it done Neyla. Those power station will be history in no time." Murray stated, showing he understood what he needed to do in order to help her destroy Engine Alpha and promised that all five power stations would be terminated in a short matter of time before they broke contact.

As soon as they broke contact, the hippo went straight to work at locating and destroying the five power stations. Luckily for Murray...the first station was attached to the girders of the tower in the central walkways towards the bow and more importantly, there were plenty of objects: TNT barrels, wooden crates/barrels and more importantly, Toucan guards for him to use. After taking out the first power station, the hippo took out his Binocucom to locate the remaining four power stations and a smirk slowly grew on his face as he found them on opposite sides of the cargo deck! The 2nd and 3rd power stations were located on the port side platform while the 4th and 5th were on the starboard platform. After he destroyed the remaining four power stations, Murray worked his way up to Engine Block Alpha where Neyla was waiting patiently for him and he immediately went to work at opening the security door to the first engine room.

"Your turn Neyla. Good luck in shutting down that engine." The hippo stated after prying open the door to Engine Alpha and wishing his tigress friend/teammate the best of luck in destroying the 1st engine.

After she stepped inside, Neyla was surprised to see how well protected the first engine block was: as the ground floor was guarded by both a security force field circling **and** lasers mopping around the floor! But thanks to experience from their previous tasks back in India and Canada, the tigress had skillfully avoided being torched by the lasers as they strafed left/right across the ground floor and security field until she reached the opposite side of the room, where she used a trampoline to reach the 2nd level...where she would discover a much more complicated security system. After she reached the 2nd level, Neyla's eyes had widened in surprise as the entire safety glass like floor was covered in security lasers designed in a spider web like pattern, with saw blades embedded in slots and much to her utter disbelief, the security field had also reached to the 2nd floor!

However...the tigress was not the slightest discouraged by the highly sophisticated security system, as she carefully studied the movement of both the saw blades and security field. After mentally noting how one saw blade was motionless while the the spun for a few seconds, she began her extremely dangerous feat: ninja spire jumping between the saw blades across the security laser covered floor! Once she made it to the engine control room, the tigress spotted Arpeggio's personal safe and contacted her raccoon to inform him of its location.

"Sly, it's me. I found Arpeggio's personal safe...he had it hidden here in the first engine block." She stated softly, informing her lover that she had found the deceased British parrot's personal vault much to his great surprise.

"That's great work my beautiful tigress. I'm on my way." The raccoon replied, congratulating his tigress lover on finding the parrot's safe and informed her that he was on his way to the first engine block and once inside, it hadn't taken Sly to long to work his way from the ground floor to the control room where he approached the safe and contacted Bentley

"Arpeggio really knew his encryption algorithms. After thoroughly studying all the clues...I'm only 86.5% convinced that the code to the vault is 7-2-5." His turtle friend stated, complimenting the deceased British parrot's high intellect as the clues that Sly and Neyla collected were difficult to decipher and gave him the combination to the safe...while sounding a bit unsure if the numbers he advised were accurate, especially since he blamed himself for Clock-Lita being 'born'. If he hadn't told his raccoon and tigress friends/teammates to reverse the polarity to the magnetic inducers, Carmelita never would've been able to enter Clockwerk's lifeless body and become the hybrid/abomination she had became.

Sly had inputted the numbers that his friend and tech support suggested and much to his and Neyla's delight...the combination was correct, as the door to the safe opened and the gadget resting inside was actually an old family technique that brought a bright grin to the raccoon's face: the Shadow Power gadget! After witnessing her raccoon swiftly snagging the gadget out of safe and replacing it with his family clan calling card, Neyla threw the lever on the main console which deactivated Engine Alpha.

"Two engines down, two more to go babe." The raccoon stated in a flirting manner while embracing his feline lover and planting his lips over hers in a burning passionate kiss, which Neyla eagerly returned with equal passion.

"Did you have any luck getting through to Jack?" He asked softly, wondering if his tigress had any success in contacting the wolf detective.

"I'm really hoping that I did Ringtail. Because if he didn't get my email before this flying jigsaw puzzle arrives to Paris...we're pretty much screwed." She answered truthfully, admitting that she wasn't entirely sure if Howlett had received her email and was really hoping that Jack got her message...otherwise they were all doomed once the hate light show went off after reaching Paris.

 _~Meanwhile with Bentley and Murray~_

After exiting the control room to Engine Beta, Bentley had worked and fought his way back towards the safe house, as his designated RV point was located on the starboard propeller motor, which was parallel to where his hippo friend's RV point! Once he approached his RV point, the turtle drew out his Binocucom and contacted Murray.

"That's the third engine block that needs to be destroyed. I won't lie to you Murray, this job is going to require both of skills in order to weaken Clock-Lita." The turtle stated, informing his friend/teammate that breaking into the 3rd engine room required them both to work together in order to pull them the extra time they needed to weaken the robotic owl/vixen hybrid.

"I hear that Bentley. What do we need to do to get at the third engine?" His hippo stated and asked, as he clearly knew that it was up to him to destroy Engine Block Delta.

"First, I'll need to hack the three security terminals controlling access to the engine room. Then Murray, you'll need to head on inside and use your muscle to finish the job." Bentley stated, explaining that he would need to hack the three security computers scattered throughout the blimp, to bypass the security system to the 3rd engine room and once he was once inside, it would be all up to the hippo to shutdown the 3rd engine block.

"The Murray" will be ready to go." Murray answered plain and simple, showing that he would be ready action once his turtle friend and teammate unlocked the security door to Engine Delta before they broke contact.

After placing the Binocucom back in his shell, Bentley had gone straight to work at locating and hacking the three security terminals scattered through the blimp. Finding the first computer wasn't that difficult...but getting past the security drones stored inside the terminals was not a walk in the park: as Arpeggio had no doubtingly created the security drones stored inside the computers: as they their armor was slightly tougher than the standard drones from the previous security system. Although...the crafty turtle also made a few improvements to his digital avatar: strengthening the armor to his avatar's defenses and having his Hacker Code laser fire bounce off the walls: taking out the enemy drones and clearing the path to reach the security slot. Once he hacked the first terminal, the turtle hacked into the two remaining security computers: one underneath the part cabin, at the stern's upper deck and where was the third terminal? It was directly near Engine Block Delta, much to his great delight before hacking the computer and deactivating the security system and opening the door to the 3rd engine block!

"Make way for the Murray!" Bentley playfully stated, wishing his hippo friend and teammate the best of luck in deactivating the 3rd engine before glancing up to the sky: as they could see Clock-Lita circling above them...as if daring them to run back towards the safe house, so she could kill them with the explosives she continued to drop from her talons.

After he stepped inside the engine block, Sly informed his hippo friend that he needed lift up the multiple plugs dangling directly above the outlets in order to reach the upper level...but needed to be careful, as the Toucan guards would no doubtingly come running if an alarm had alerted them to intruders inside engine room Delta. Once he learned what was needed in order to reach the upper floor, Murray had gone straight to work at lifting up the plugs...while getting into a fist fight with the Toucan guards, who foolishly attempted to prevent the hippo from reaching the 2nd level, only for the pathetic excuse for hired 'help' to lay beside each other and sprawled all around the floor, while cawing/moaning in pain from his insanely powerful fists!

Once the hippo had lifted up all the plugs from the ground floor, he used a trampoline to reach the second level of the engine block, where his raccoon friend and leader gave him further instructions: how Murray needed to perform the Thunder Flop on all the plugs...as the plugs were the primary connection to the security doors to the control room. After learning how the large sized cylinders were connected to the locked security doors, Murray began using the Thunder Flop to destroy the plugs...along with the RC security drones that attempted to stop him...only for the hippo to destroy the drones with a single powerful hook or uppercut, that sent the little drones bouncing up/down across the floor! After he destroyed the final cylinder and last of the drones, Murray entered the control room and threw the lever on the main console, which deactivated Engine Delta!

"Great job big guy! Another engine bites the dust! Just one more engine to go and Clock-Lita should be weakened before we arrive to Paris." Sly stated, congratulating his hippo friend on a job well down: as they destroyed three of the four engines and how the robotic owl/vixen hybrid would be drained of energy so they could destroy her before the blimp arrived to Paris and the auto-pilot activated the hypnotic light show to make Clock-Lita immortal.

 _~Meanwhile with Sly and Neyla~_

After they exited engine room Alpha, the two lovers had paraglided down to their final RV point: which they found on top of a structural joint that was down in the cargo hold of the blimp while glancing through their Binocucoms. Once they landed directly on the structural joint right near their , the raccoon and tigress pulled out their Binocucoms to contact Bentley.

"That's the final engine Sly: Engine Block Gamma. But we've got a problem: there's no door or vent for us to sneak inside...so need to destroy it from the outside." Their turtle friend stated, informing his friends/teammates that Engine Gamma was the final engine they needed to destroy, but revealed they could't sneak inside as there were no vents or security doors for them to sneak inside and the only means of destroying the fourth and final engine was by blowing it up from the outside.

"We don't suppose you're carrying some serious explosives Bent...because that engine room isn't that small." Sly stated, showing he understood how Engine Gamma was the final engine block they needed to destroy and asked if he was packing power explosives...as he and his tigress lover could tell that ordinary explosives would be strong enough to destroy the fourth/final engine.

"Well, today is our lucky day. Arpeggio's crew already have an instantly prepared supply of explosive barrels already on the blimp. All you and Neyla have to do is walk a TNT barrel over to the engine room in order to destroy it." Bentley stated, revealing to his raccoon and tigress friends that the blimp already had TNT barrel chute disposing instantly prepared barrels and how it was up to one of them to jump inside and walk the explosive towards Engine Gamma in order to destroy it.

"Alright, sounds easy enough. What's the catch?" Neyla asked, as she and her raccoon immediately knew that walking a single TNT barrel to the fourth and final engine block wouldn't be enough and suspected there was a catch to their final field job.

"The initial payload inside that TNT barrel is strong, but it won't be powerful enough for the job. If you or Sly could pick up three magnetic chargers, you guys should achieve the necessary fire power to destroy the engine. It should be worth mentioning that the chargers will automatically attach to the barrel you or Sly are hiding in Neyla." Her turtle friend answered truthfully, explaining that the initial blasting powder stored inside the TNT barrels wouldn't be strong enough to destroy Engine Gamma and by only picking up three special chargers, they would obtain the power they would need to take out the final engine!

"All right...let's blow stuff up!" Sly stated, showing he was entertaining the idea of taking out the unsuspecting Toucan guards with whatever TNT barrel he jumped in and also understood that he and his tigress needed to collect three chargers in order to give whatever barrel they jump in the power boost it needed to destroy the final engine block before the three of them broke contact.

"Neyla...do you want to walk the barrel to the engine block? Or do you want to deal with the idiot guards who get in our way?" He asked softly while turning to his feline lover, wondering if she wanted to walk the TNT barrel to collect the chargers or if she wanted to deal with the guards whom would try to stop them.

"You can walk the TNT barrel to the engine block Ringtail. I'll deal with those idiot birdbrains." Neyla answered plain and softly, informing her raccoon that she would deal with the Toucans while he collected the chargers and walked the TNT barrel over to Engine Block Gamma.

"Alright babe. Let's do this." Her raccoon replied before they locked lips in a sweet and tender kiss, before he leaped into the very first TNT barrel that the chute ejected.

After her lover jumped into the explosive barrel, the tigress had protect Sly as they walked towards the 1st booster that was on the port side walkways on the side platform next to the cargo hold. Once they obtained the first magnetic charger, the two lovers had collected the remaining two power boosters and fought their way up the final engine block...but not before cautiously crossing a vector fan lift, especially Sly, because if he ended up sliding off the lift, he'd end up losing both the barrel and boosters. But thankfully, the wily raccoon never fell off the fan lift as he and his tigress studied the movements of the vector fan lifts, as they made it safely to the engine block and placed the fully powered up TNT barrel on the roof of the final engine room! Once the explosives were placed in the center of Engine Gamma, the raccoon and his tigress ran for cover and smiled as the final engine was destroyed and useless to the robotic owl/vixen hybrid.

"Let's see that mechanical bitch Carmelita draw power from this engine." Neyla muttered softly as she and her lover spotted the newly reborn Clock-Lita screeching out angrily...as she clearly saw them destroy the final engine to the blimp!

"Let's head on back to the hide out my beautiful tigress. Tomorrow will be our only chance to destroy that robotic freak of nature before we reach Paris and we need to be 100% for our last fight." Sly stated to his tigress, suggesting that they head back to the hide out to rest up: as tomorrow was going to be their last fight against the hybrid and they needed to 100% ready, both physically and mentally...otherwise, they were doomed once Clock-Lita became immortal after they reached Paris.

Without wasting a further second, the two lovers headed back to the hide out and were relieved to see Bentley and Murray waiting for them. After they embraced and congratulated each other on a job well done out in the field, as all four engines were destroyed which meant...Clock-Lita would be in a weakened state that would make her vulnerable to be destroyed. After remembering that tomorrow would be their confrontation with the robotic owl/hybrid to prevent her from obtaining immortality, Sly and his team laid out the blankets, sleeping mattresses and pillows they had placed in the Northern Light battery after rendering it useless and making it safe to hide in before they lost all their Clockwerk Parts to Bison.

While Bentley and Murray had laid and slept on their own 'beds' in order to catch up on some sleep, Sly had laid down on his 'bed' while holding Neyla close as she rested her head right on his chest and closed her eyes while smiling, as she listened to the steady rate of her lover's heart beating. As he and his family/team eventually fell to sleep, the raccoon could only hope that Jack had received his tigress's email and found them just in time...as he greatly feared that Clockwerk would continue to plague his family line, especially with Carmelita now in control of his body ms she could have her meaningless revenge against him and his tigress.

 _'Jack...please hurry.'_ Sly mentally stated, praying and begging for Howlett to find the deceased British parrot's blimp...especially before it was too late and when Clock-Lita became immortal from the hypnotic light show once they arrived to Paris.

 **A/N: There it is everyone, the first chapter to the Anatomy for Disaster episode. I would like to deeply apologize to my viewers and fellow Fanfic authors for the insanely long wait. I know I promise to have this chapter posted last month in January. I've just...been going through a rough patch the last two months. I've been dealing with extremely hectic shifts at the hospital where I work in the kitchen and struggling to find the time to work on my fanfic stories.**

 **The next chapter, where Jack helps the Cooper Gang defeat and destroy Clock-Lita and Bentley becomes paraplegic when he tries to retrieves the Hate Chip from Clock-Lita's mouth will be posted something next weekend, during the beginning of March.**

 **Until next time, take care and have a good night.**


	26. Anatomy for Disaster Pt 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or any of its characters, except my OC**

 **A/N: Hello everyone, here is the 26th chapter as promised: where Jack helps Sly and his friends destroy Clock-Lita to put an end to both Clockwerk and Carmelita...but at an unfortunate cost. There will also be a huge surprising twist to the chapter. Please sit back and enjoy.**

 **Reviews and comments will be appreciated**

 **Chapter 26: Anatomy for Disaster, Pt 2**

Morning had soon arrived as predicted and Arpeggio's blimp, according to Bentley's computer, was nearing French airspace...not to far from Paris. But fortunately for the raccoon and his team, their turtle friend had good news for them and immediately put together a slide show presentation while Sly, Murray and Neyla ate a small breakfast as they needed to be mentally prepared for their final confrontation with the robotic owl/vixen hybrid.

"Guys, I have some very good news: Jack got the email that Neyla sent him yesterday and just emailed us back. He understands the dire situation we all face if Clock-Lita becomes immortal and is willing to help us to destroy the homicidal robotic bird. He's already airborne and is on his way." Bentley stated happily, informing his friends that Howlett had thankfully received Neyla's message and much to their delight, had agreed to assist them in destroying the demented hybrid they had successfully weakened by destroying the four main engines that Clock-Lita had absorbed power from!

Sly and Murray smiled happily and chuckled softly, which became into excited cheers and high fived each other while Neyla smiled herself before embracing her lover and hippo friend/teammate.

"Thank you Jack. Thank you." The tigress whispered softly, thanking her former training partner for agreeing to help them destroy Clock-Lita before she could become immortal.

"But...there's only a small problem: he's unable to locate this blimp through his chopper's radar." The turtle stated with a small frown, regretfully ruining the moment by informing his friends and teammates that the wolf detective couldn't find Arpeggio's blimp through his helicopter's radar.

"Is there a way to help him locate the blimp?" Sly asked, wondering if there was a way for them to help Howlett get a fix on their location.

"As a matter of fact Sly...there is. To help him hone in on our position, we'll need to boost the strength of four local radio towers. Once Jack has arrived, he can only take one of us to act as his tail gunner in a dogfight against Clock-Lita." Bentley answered, stating there was a way to help Jack locate the blimp: by boosting the radio frequency of the four radio towers scattered throughout the aircraft and once he arrived, their secret wolf ally could only take one of them to engage in an aerial battle against the robotic owl/vixen hybrid.

"This is it you guys. We don't have time for any other plans. We're almost over Paris and if that hate light show goes off...well, we all know what will happen." He added while concluding the final presentation, informing his friends that they no longer had the time to make any other plans...as the blimp was almost nearing Paris and mentioning what would happen if they failed to destroy Clock-Lita before the hypnotic hate light show went off.

"Wait a second...Howlett can only take **one** of us as his gunner to face flying hybrid freak?" Murray asked as he needed to sure he heard his turtle friend right: how Jack could only take one of them to act as his tail gunner to fight Clock-Lita!

Sly's and Neyla's eyes widened after hearing that Jack could only take one person on their team to face off against the robotic owl/vixen hybrid,as it brought up a very important decision: who would go as the wolf detective's tail gunner during the upcoming aerial battle against the demented and homicidal robotic owl?

"Sly...I think you should be the one to face that flying bitch when Jack arrives." The tigress stated softly to her raccoon, suggesting that he should be the one to act as Howlett's machine gun operator, much to her lover's deep surprise by her suggestion!

"Me? Neyla...I've never handled a helicopter machine gun before. And even I could, there's no way I'm leaving you, Bentley and Murray here on the blimp!" The raccoon replied, deeply surprised that his feline lover recommended him to be Jack's machine gunner while refusing to leave the woman he loved and his foster brothers/best friends on the blimp while he and the wolf detective battled Clock-Lita, while hearing her robotic screeches from inside the safe house.

"And there's no bloody way I would ever dream of leaving you chaps up here, if it was me volunteering to go with Jack. But's its a risk we have to take, my love. What do you think Bentley?" Neyla countered, showing she would be just as against the idea of leaving her lover and friends/teammates stranded up on the blimp if she went with Howlett and turned to their turtle friend for his input.

"Sorry Sly...but I have to agree with Neyla. This is our only chance to destroy Clock-Lita before the blimp reaches Paris...which will be...in half an hour!" The turtle stated, siding with his tigress friend and teammate as having to leave the rest of the team up on the blimp was a risk they'd have to take...and revealing they only had 30 minutes to defeat the robotic owl/vixen hybrid before Arpeggio's auto-pilot activated the hate hypnotic light show!

 _'Half an hour?! We're that close to Paris?!'_ Sly mentally shouted as he, Neyla and Murray stared completely shocked after hearing how much time they had left and how close the massive aircraft was arriving to Paris!

"Sly...we don't have time to argue about this. You defeated Clockwerk two years ago...Bentley, Murray and I know you can defeat him, especially with that double crossing bitch controlling his body this time." His tigress replied in a soft and firm tone, stating that they couldn't afford to waste further time arguing and reassuring her raccoon lover that he could defeat Clock-Lita, just like he defeated Clockwerk back in Russia two years ago with the turtle and hippo nodding in agreement.

"Neyla's right Sly. We'll be alright while you and Howlett take on that homicidal mechanical freak flying out there. You got this buddy." Murray stated, showing he sided with Neyla and reassuring his friend/leader that they would be safe in the hide out while he and the wolf detective confronted Clock-Lita.

"You can do this my love. End this...for good." The tigress stated softly, pressing her lips against her raccoon's in a heated passionate kiss, which Sly returned with equal passion...while their friends simply rolled theirs and glanced away with small grins on their faces as they knew that Neyla was merely wishing him the best of luck.

"Neyla...thank you. Stay safe you guys." The raccoon stated with his casual smirk on his face, thanking his tigress lover and two best friends for their encouraging words as he was mentally ready to face the robotic owl/vixen hybrid when Jack found them on his helicopter's radar.

"Hold on Sly. You're going to need this." Bentley stated, as he stopped his friend/leader from stepping out of the safe house and helped strap on a what appeared to be a highly advanced gadget that resembled sort of backpack, which Sly knew would be useful for his last and final field assignment on the massive aircraft.

After his turtle friend and tech support helped him slip on the hi-tech pack, the raccoon exited the hide out and approached his final RV point, which was located on top of the cabin on the left side of the safe house. Once he approached his designated RV point, Sly pulled out his Binocucom and contacted Bentley.

"Alright Sly, we need to send Jack a strong radio pulse so he can home in on the blimp. To do that, I'll need you to get on top of four **very** tall towers: they're too big to climb and too tall to jump up normally." The turtle started off, informing his raccoon friend that they needed to create a strong radio signal to help Howlett locate Arpeggio's blimp and the only means to create a signal that strong enough, was by climbing up four massive towers scattered throughout the aircraft...but there was a catch: the towers were too huge to climb up ordinary methods!

"I'm guessing this gadget you helped me strap on will get me to the top of all four towers?" The raccoon asked, while fairly guessing that the hi-tech gadget his friend helped him put on would assist him in climbing the towers.

"You guess it right buddy. This gadget is an experimental mega-jump pack...which activated will allow you to reach higher altitudes in just one jump! And Sly...good luck." Bentley answered, revealing the device he was wearing was an experimental mega-jump pack that would both: help him reach the towers and get around the massive aircraft in a single leap...and wishing him the best of luck once the wolf detective found them.

"...Yeah..." Sly muttered softly, showing he wasn't exactly thrilled of having to leave his child best friends and tigress lover stranded on the blimp when he and Howlett faced off against Clock-Lita...but had to be done before they broke contact.

Knowing he couldn't waste precious time, the raccoon immediately went straight to work: while deciding to take the mega-jump pack for a quick test run...after reaching the edge of the cabin roof, he activated the pack and instead of performing a regular jump...he was propelled way up into the sky! After experiencing how useful his new gadget was...Sly had instinctively deployed his paraglider and sailed silently over the walkways of the blimp, until he reached the first radio tower which was on the right side platform of the center deck. Once he landed near the first tower, the raccoon had climbed up the cabin, jumped normally while performing ninja spire jumps across the wire and landed safely on the shaft of the propeller.

Sly had then activated the mega-jump pack and launched himself skyward, while skillfully jumping through the wide gaps in the tower's round walkways and landing safely on top of the structure, which brought the tower online. After the first tower was activated and thanks to the mega-jump pack, the crafty raccoon had simply paraglided across the blimp, which saved him the trouble of merely running all over the walkways and mega-jumped to activate the remaining three towers. Once all four towers were activated, they shot a powerful energy beam towards the central array in the middle of the blimp and transmitted a huge signal throughout the entire aircraft!

"Great work Sly! Detective Howlett has picked up our signal and is en route directly towards us." Bentley cried out happily, congratulating his friend and leader on a job well down and informing him that Jack immediately pinpointed the signal and was currently heading right towards the safe house!

"Roger that Bentley. I'll be right there." The raccoon replied with his casual grin on his face, showing he was pleased that their secret friend and ally had already found them and would meet the wolf detective outside the hideout in a matter of seconds.

Once he leaped off the final tower he activated to send the signal to help Howlett locate Arpeggio's blimp, Sly had deployed his paraglider and sailed silently back towards the safe house. After he climbed over the dumpster and side of the cabin, that was Jack had instantly arrived in an Interpol issued attack helicopter outfitted with a twin barreled side mounted machine gun that was ready for some action!

"Jack, it'd good to see you again since Prague. Thanks for agreeing to help me and my friends on such short notice and warning us about Carmelita after we escaped on the Contessa's blimp." The raccoon stated with a soft smile, showing he was relieved to see the wolf detective as he and his friends were worried that he hadn't received Neyla's email yesterday and thanked him, for warning them about the corrupt vixen coming after them before they headed out to Canada to go after Jean Bison.

"You and your friends took a chance trusting me back in Prague, Sly...warning you guys about that backstabbing bitch the least I could. Now let's get down to business: hop aboard and strap in! It's time to go bird hunting!" Jack replied while mirroring the smile, stating he was merely returning the favor as Sly and his friends took a huge gamble trusting him: due to Carmelita shattering their trust in cops after what she did to the raccoon and his former training partner back in India and more importantly...couldn't pass up the opportunity to put that disgrace of a cop and treacherous vixen in the ground, as Barkley was furious beyond words after being informed of Carmelita's corruption and issued an arrest warrant on her: to be brought in dead or alive!

"With pleasure." He stated plain and simple before jumping over to the chopper and manning the main gun before the wolf detective flew them both to higher altitude to engage the robotic owl/vixen hybrid.

However...back inside the hide out, while Bentley and Murray had witnessed Jack arrive in his attack helicopter and picked up Sly to confront Clock-Lita...they didn't notice Neyla as she secretly sat in the turtle's seat and went straight onto ThiefNet.

 _'...I...I wish I didn't have to do this...But...it's for the best. I'd never forgive myself if Bentley and Murray got hurt, especially if that bitch Carmelita decided to come after us during the fight.'_ The tigress stated as she silently typed behind the ThiefNet computer and purchased the two mains items she was searching for...which would soon come in handy, especially if Clock-Lita intended to keep good on her threat, which she no doubtingly would.

 _~Meanwhile with Sly and Jack~_

After the wolf detective flew them to higher altitude, which was flying directly above the blimp...Howlett simply snared/growled angrily as Clock-Lita had flown right after them, while cawing/roaring at the sight of the Interpol issued chopper and after carefully zooming her robotic eyes in on the cockpit, identifying her 'former temporary partner' and 'colleague'.

 _ **"Howlett? Of course Cooper and his gang called you! So...you're their new 'buddy' inside Interpol? You're pathetic."**_ The robotic owl cried out, speaking in Carmelita's voice while expressing the same level of disdain she harbored against Sly and Neyla against Jack after discovering that he was their new ally on the force, just like she was before she betrayed everything she stood for and became the robotic hybrid she now was after entering Clockwerk's inanimate body!

"Speak for yourself Fox! If anything...the only one pathetic is you! You betrayed everything you stood for, threw away your humanity for what? All because Sly met and fell in love with Neyla? You could've met and fell in love someone new yourself, your true soul mate...but no, you merely let your jealously turn you from an honest, hardworking cop...to a heartless murdering bitch and mechanical freak of nature." Howlett cried out through the chopper's speaker system, informing Carmelita that it was really she who was pathetic as she threw away everything she worked so hard far: her freedom, career in Interpol and even sold her soul to the Devil, all because she couldn't accept the fact that Sly found his true love, Neyla and how she could've found love in someone new as well...but chose to give in to her jealousy and become the monster she truly was!

 _ **"Oh, I'm pathetic? You're the one assisting and abetting wanted criminals! Plus Cooper, let's all kid ourselves and say you, your gang and Howlett do by some small chance defeat and destroy me...you idiots are aware what that means later on, don't you?"**_ Clock-Lita asked in a mocking tone while reminding Jack that he was also risking his career as a cop just by helping Sly and his team in stopping her from becoming immortal and darkly brought up a rather important fact: how the raccoon and his friends would be chased by the wolf detective, especially if Barkley decided to pass on the duty of bringing in the Cooper Gang onto him!

"...If that's how things are going to be between Jack and my team after you and Clockwerk are gone Carmelita...than that's just something we'll have to live with." Sly answered, showing he was indeed aware how his and his friend's relationship with Jack would go, especially once the robotic owl/vixen hybrid was defeated and the Clockwerk Parts were destroyed: how Interpol would no doubtingly send him to try and bring them in...and stated that it was an outcome they would learn to live and deal with once she and Clockwerk were destroyed for good.

 _ **"Enough of this foolish chitchat Cooper! Your time is up! After I've killed you and Howlett, I'll go after the rest of your pathetic gang: gutting that fat hippo alive, crushing that worthless nerd of a turtle underneath my claw and more importantly...saving your precious Neyla for last and I plan of savoring every moment torturing her before I end her..."**_ The robotic owl/vixen hybrid screamed out, showing she had enough of their pointless talking and ready for battle...while darkly and sadistically bragging on what she planned to do with the raccoon's friends/teammates and lover: how she planned on disemboweling Murray with her Talons, crushing Bentley to death with her heavy robotic feet...just like she killed Arpeggio with her beak and how she planned on torturing Neyla to death before being cut off by both Jack and Sly!

 **"STAY AWAY FROM HER!"** The raccoon and wolf detective angrily screamed, the both of them extremely enraged after hearing the sadistic plans the homicidal robotic owl planned for Bentley, Murray and more importantly, Neyla if she had somehow defeated them and were strongly determined to prevent it from happening!

After the initial death threat to his childhood friends/foster brothers and tigress, Sly had leveled his eyes with the iron sights of the machine gun and pressed down on the trigger, firing right at Clock-Lita! Although...attempting to land a direct hit on the flying robotic owl proved to be **far** challenging than the previous battle which took back in Russia two years ago...as the Carmelita had perfectly strafed left/right and performed several barrel rolls to avoid serious damage, even though several energy rounds had managed to hit her, but was still able to remain airborne! Once the raccoon ceased firing to prevent the chopper's main gun from overheating...that was when the robotic owl/vixen hybrid retaliated: firing three missiles, two yellow and one red directly at the attack helicopter!

But fortunately, the machine gun swiftly cooled down and the raccoon had shot the yellow/red glowing projectiles right out of the sky before they came anywhere close near the chopper! However...that was when Clock-Lita had activated and used an all too familiar attack that Sly knew all too well: the electrified ring attack that Clockwerk himself used when they faced off in the heart of the Krakarov Volcano! But thanks to his sharp mind, he immediately remembered the flaw in the energized rings: hitting the outside of the main ring rendered the attack harmless and the wily raccoon skillfully fired a precise shot that neutralized the rings from causing any severe damage to the helicopter!

"Nice work Sly! How'd you know how to cancel out those rings?" Jack cried out, complimenting his secret friend and ally on his shooting skills and was curious to how he knew how to render the energized rings that Clock-Lita sent right at them harmless.

"I battled Clockwerk himself when he was actually 'alive' in Russia two years a...Oh shit, Jack watch out!" Sly answered, explaining to Howlett that he and the robotic owl faced each other in battle two years...but cried out as three missiles were headed right towards them!

"Oh fuck!" The wolf detective cursed, before pulling up at the last second and thankfully managed to avoid any serious damage...even the red missile had struck the bottom of the hull, which caused the chopper to 'bounce' in the air!

"We did't take a serious hit, did we?" The raccoon asked in a concern tone, hoping that the chopper hadn't taken a direct hit from the last missile while still manning/firing the gun!

"No...No, we're good. That missile didn't do that much damage, so we're not out of the fight just yet." Howlett answered, informing Sly that the helicopter wasn't that badly damaged and could still keep fighting while avoiding another barrage of yellow and red missiles!

The heated aerial battle between Sly and Jack against Clock-Lita had been pretty intense and brutal, as neither combatants were going down easily: even though Carmelita was throwing every weapon her new body had at its disposal, including the weapons the actual Clockwerk used during his battle against the raccoon she despised so much...Howlett's Interpol issued helicopter avoided taking any serious damage, due to Sly memorizing the flaws/weaknesses to her energized rings and shooting down her missiles! As the battle continued, both the wolf and raccoon smiled...as they noticed smoking coming from the robotic owl's head, which showed their attacks were getting through and damaging her insanely strong armor and Sly continued firing bursts of energized bullets towards the flying robotic hybrid. As the aerial battle continued for what seemed like another five minutes...that was when Sly had landed a direct hit with the main gun that ended it!

"Nice shooting Sly! You know...if we had met under different circumstances, we would've made a hell of a team!" Jack cried out as he glanced over his seat and offered the raccoon a firm hand to shake while stating how they could've been partners in another life, just like he and Neyla were before he was assigned to the Fugitive Recovery Unit.

"And you're one hell of a pilot Jack! Way to go! Wait...look!" He replied, complimenting Howlett on his piloting skills and couldn't help but agree with what he just said: how they could've made a great team as partners, especially if he had been a cop as they shook hands...before glancing down to witness something they didn't expect!

"I don't believe it!" The wolf detective cried out, completely shocked beyond words as he and Sly couldn't believe what they witnessed with their own two eyes!

What did they see you ask? Clock-Lita crashing right into the main air lift, which kept the blimp itself afloat in the sky...destroying the massive aircraft, as explosions rung out and erupted everywhere on the vessel and making them both, especially Sly gasp in complete shock and horror: as the robotic owl/vixen hybrid was flying towards the safe house with his friends/teammates still inside!

 _~Meanwhile with Neyla, Bentley and Murray~_

"Oh god...she's coming right towards us!" The turtle cried out, horrified as the robotic owl was merely seconds away from tearing the hide out apart from the self-destructing blimp and flying away with him, Murray and Neyla inside it!

"Oh, this is not good! What do we do guys?!" The hippo cried out, equally scared as he couldn't believe that Clock-Lita had actually survived crashing into the main lift...but quickly remembered Sly telling him how Clockwerk actually survived falling into molten lava, **even** with his robotic body badly damaged after his raccoon friend/leader recovered the final pages to the Thievius Raccoonus **and** leaving Carmelita handcuffed to the scaffolding in the crater of the Krakarov Volcano!

Before Bentley could even answer and much to his and Murray's great surprise...their tigress friend had pulled out two paragliders: one purple and one green before tossing them to her friends.

"Neyla...where did you get these parachutes?" The turtle asked, as he and his hippo friend didn't recognize the different colored paragliders and were completely baffled to why she just handed them the parachutes.

"There's no time to explain Bentley. Please, you and Murray need to put those chutes on quickly!" The tigress answered, knowing there was no time to ask questions and instructed her teammates to put the parachutes on before Clock-Lita flew them away while still inside the safe house!

Knowing better than to argue with her, Murray and Bentley had quickly strapped the parachutes over their backs and stared surprised as their feline friend/teammate had opened the front door and motioned for them to follow her!

"Neyla, wait! What are we even doing?" The hippo asked, demanding to know what it was his tigress friend had planned...as he and his turtle friend had a bad feeling shooting up their spines to what the answer was as Bentley grabbed the ThiefNet computer and placed it inside his shell for safe keeping .

"The only option we have big guy: we're gonna paraglide down to Paris." Neyla answered, which surprised her friends: claiming that the 'three' of them would jump off the exploding blimp and paraglide safely down to Paris!

"What?! We're not jumping!" Bentley cried out as he and Murray stared completely shocked by what she wanted them to do: to leap off the burning and still exploding aircraft and strongly refused to jump to safety!

"This is not the time to argue!" She angrily remarked, claiming there was no time to argue especially since Clock-Lita was mere seconds away.

"But...But we've never paraglided before!" Murray cried out, stating that he and the turtle didn't have any experience in handling parachutes or gliding through the air like she and Sly did!

"There's nothing to it! All you chaps have to do is think of something relaxing to calm yourselves before jumping, count to 3 and pull the cord." The tigress replied, informing here shaken friends and teammates that paragliding wasn't difficult as they thought: all they had to do in order to mentally prepare themselves before making a jump was to think of something of relaxing and counting to 3 before pulling the cord to deploy the cute to avoid falling to their deaths.

"But..." Bentley attempted to argue, but was silenced by an angry look Neyla had on her face.

"This isn't for debate! That flying mechanical bitch is coming! Trust me when I say this: get the bloody Hell out of!" She angrily and firmly added, while pointing directly at the robotic owl/vixen hybrid just meters away from the hideout and ordered her stubborn friends to jump before it was too late!

"Arghh! You'd better be right behind us!" The turtle angrily groaned as he knew that Neyla was correct, as Clock-Lita was seconds away from their current position and firmly commanded the tigress to be right behind him and the hippo before he reluctantly jumped off the burning/exploding blimp!

"See you on the ground?" Murray asked hesitantly, showing he didn't want to leave his feline friend but had no choice before jumping after Bentley.

"I'll be right behind you and Bentley, bug guy." Neyla answered, 'promising' to be right behind her friends...which was a lie as she was simply waiting for them to abandon ship.

"Cannonball!" He yelled out before running after his turtle friend, jumped off the aircraft and pulled the cord, deploying the chute and slowly descending towards Paris!

However...unknown to Murray and Bentley, Neyla hadn't followed them and actually stepped back inside the hideout...which was when Clock-Lita had arrived and clutched the talons of her right claw onto the roof, carrying the safe house with the tigress now trapped inside!

 _~Back with Sly and Jack~_

"Cooper..I think your turtle and hippo friends just bailed out of your hideout!" The wolf detective stated, informing the raccoon that his teammates had just jumped off the blimp and deployed the two new parachutes, which he didn't recognize as they slowly headed to the ground beneath them.

 _'Wait...two? Where's... oh, no. No, no, no!'_ Sly mentally shouted, as he only counted the green and purple chutes sailing slowly in the sky and swiftly near where his tigress was: still inside the safe house that the robotic owl/vixen hybrid was flying away with in her claws!

"Jack, can you get me in anywhere near that flying bitch?" He immediately asked, wondering if Howlett could get in close to the mechanical owl that was holding his lover hostage!

"I can't. There's too much debris in the way. I can't fly us anywhere close without damaging the chopper." Jack answered, stating that he couldn't fly them in close as all the debris from the destroyed blimp had obscured blocked their path and couldn't afford to risk damaging the helicopter!

"Then drop me off at there: on top of that port cabin right there. I'll work my way towards her." The raccoon requested softly, asking the wolf detective to drop him off on top of a cabin floating in the air and stating he would work his way up towards Clock-Lita and Howlett did as he asked, flying the chopper close to the port cabin that Sly was pointing at.

"Good luck." The wolf detective stated softly, wishing the raccoon the best of luck in recusing Neyla from the robotic, as she way ahead of them and all the floating debris, along with the drifts that would make landing on a specific piece of debris dicey before flying off.

"Hold on Neyla! I'm coming!" Sly shouted shortly after Howlett dropped him off and they traded a thumbs up: thanking each other on a job well done during the aerial battle against Clock-Lita before turning his attention to the robotic owl that was holding his tigress captive and was fiercely determined to rescue her.

Once Jack had took off, the raccoon had thoroughly planned his 'route' to reach the robotic owl/vixen hybrid, leaped off the port cabin and deployed his paraglider: carefully gliding in the sky and landing on the floating fragments of the destroyed blimp: ranging from fragmented engine blocks, fan lifts, walkways, propellers and other port cabins. After carefully landing on an engine block near Clock-Lita, he deployed his paraglider one final time and landed directly on the robotic owl's damaged but still functioning left wing! While trapped inside the safe house and holding onto the briefing table in order to maintain her balance, Neyla smiled brightly as she witnessed her raccoon lover coming to her rescue: carefully gliding across the floating debris of the blimp and landing directly on the mechanical hybrid's left wing.

 _ **"You want a piece of me Cooper? Don't worry, there's plenty to go around!"**_ The robotic hybrid demanded, incredibly annoyed that the raccoon that she hated so much had chased after...but expected as much, especially since she had the woman he loved trapped inside their destroyed hide out.

"You may have a new body Carmelita...but you're still the backstabbing coward and traitor we've beaten time and time again! This time won't be any different and I'm glad that I chose Neyla over you. Because as far as I'm concerned, you're dead to me." Sly replied while mirroring the same level of disdain towards Clock-Lita, angrily calling the vixen he once had feelings for a backstabbing coward and traitor who betrayed everything she stood for and was glad that he chose Neyla over her, as she no longer meant anything to him!

 ** _"Be brave while you can Cooper. I may not have the immortality born of pure hatred just yet...but I can feel something...some power rising inside me!"_** The robotic owl coldly replied, begrudgingly confessing that she hadn't obtained the spark of immortality just yet...but revealed that she had felt some sort of power coursing through her circuitry before charging her eyes for an energy attack!

Without wasting a second as this was his only chance to knock the demented and damaged robotic hybrid out of the sky, the raccoon had swiftly ran across the damaged wing up to the left side of Clock-Lita's head and immediately went to town on her face with his cane! Sly had landed a number of powerful blows down on the robotic owl/vixen hybrid's face, which canceled her energy attack and screeched out in pain, as the blows he landed caused the left Eye to explode and set on fire! After the left Eye was badly damaged, he quickly ran across Clock-Lita's back over to the right side of her head and immediately landed a number of blows, severely damaging and taking out the right Eye as well!

"Neyla, quick! You need to jump!" Sly called out to his feline lover, ordering her to exit the safe house as he knew right away that the robotic owl was about to lose control and crash from all the damage she took during the aerial battle against him and Jack in the attack helicopter and powerful blows he just landed from his cane onto her head/face!

"Don't need to tell me twice Ringtail!" The tigress called out, knowing her raccoon was correct and instinctively bailed out of the destroyed safe house: kicked the door down and deployed her paraglider.

As she sailed silently through the air, Neyla glanced over her shoulder and smiled as Sly was right behind her as he leaped off the out of control robotic owl/vixen hybrid, whom had crashed directly in the outskirts of Paris! After they touched down, the two lovers had heard Bentley and Murray calling out their names and smiled as they ran up to them.

"Sly! Neyla! You guys made it!" Murray cried out while embracing both his raccoon and tigress friends in his strong muscular arms, showing how relieved he was that they were safe and sound with Bentley chuckling softly at how tight the hippo was hugging their friends and teammates.

"We're glad to see you and Bentley as well big guy...but, uh...you're sort of killing us." Sly stated softly while chuckling in a raspy voice, showing he was overjoyed to see his two childhood best friends in one piece as well...while informing the hippo that he was killing him and his tigress.

"What?" He asked, surprised and somewhat confused from the words that just left his mouth!

"You're hugging us too tight. We can't breathe." Neyla answered softly while gasping herself, revealing to Murray that he was hugging her and Sly too tightly and he immediately released his hold on them.

"Oh, sorry you guys." The hippo stated, apologizing with a sheepish grin on his face as he couldn't believe how hard he was embracing his friends/teammates!

"It's alright big guy. We're happy to you chaps as well." The tigress answered after she and her raccoon took in a deep breath and swiftly recovered from the unintended powerful hug Murray had just given them...and turned their attention directly at the seemingly defeated and 'destroyed' Clock-Lita, which laid motionless on the ground.

"Is it over?" She asked softly, wondering if the robotic hybrid was truly dead as she and her friends carefully studied the badly damaged mechanical owl, hoping that the battle was truly over.

"It's over my beautiful tigress. It's all over." Sly answered, reassuring his tigress that it was indeed over...while a little unsure, as he remembered how stubborn Clockwerk was, when he and the ancient owl faced each other two years ago.

"Right on!" Murray cried out excitedly while flexing his arms, truly believing that the robotic owl/vixen hybrid was truly 'dead'!

"It's truly an emotional moment." Bentley replied, also believing that Clock-Lita was finished as well. However...they were sadly mistaken.

 _ **"DIE INSECTS, DIE! MY HATE WILL CRUSH YOU!"**_ The robotic owl cried out angrily, showing she was still alive and functioning...much to Sly's and his friend's disbelief!

 _'Why am I not surprised?'_ The raccoon mentally asked himself, while glaring as he should've known that the mechanical hybrid wouldn't die that easy...just like Clockwerk refused to simply die thousands of years ago.

"Watch out! That thing is still kicking!" Sly cried out, as his friends stared surprised that Clock-Lita was still alive before they ran for safety as she released floor security lasers as a last line of defense to protect herself!

"Now what? How do we finish her for good?" Neyla asked as she turned to her lover and teammates, wondering if they had a plan to destroy the nearly destroyed but still functioning robotic owl/vixen hybrid for good.

"Clock-Lita mentioned something about a Hate Chip...it's fair to assume that its the true source of her power." Bentley replied, showing he had been listening to the conversation between his raccoon friend/leader and robotic owl: how she mentioned feeling some sort of power coursing through her body and fairly guessed that this 'Hate Chip' was what allowed Clockwerk himself to live for thousands of years since Ancient Egypt.

"If we can remove it, she should be unable to attack or defend herself." Sly stated, thinking that his turtle friend was right about removing the Hate Chip: if it truly was the source of Clock-Lita's/Clockwerk's power and they destroyed...it would put an end to the curse of the ancient owl and corrupt vixen for good.

"Then let's do some open head surgery! I'll pry open that beak so Bentley can go to town with his bombs." Murray stated as he also agreed with the plan and suggesting they do perform a little 'surgery' with him being the 'surgeon': how he would pry open Clock-Lita's beak open so the turtle could remove the chip and do some damage with his bombs!

After carefully and skillfully jumping over the lasers, the hippo had approached the left side of the robotic owl's face and immediately went to work at prying the beak open for Bentley to remove the chip...which proved easier said than done, as the beak was jammed shut from the crash. But once he succeeded in prying the beak open...Murray couldn't help but back away as a hologram of Carmelita's face had appeared from the inside of the mouth!

 _ **"I hate you Cooper! You and your precious Neyla! You may have won the battle, but this is far from over! I will find you in your sleep and I'll kill you both! You, your bitch girlfriend and worthless gang will never a moment's peace for the rest of your lives! The Clock-Lita will know revenge! I AM REVENGE! I AM THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA! CLOCK-LITA!"**_ Carmelita's digital face screamed out in pure ire and hatred, showing how much she hated Sly and Neyla and stating that they would never be free of her: vowing to find the two lovers in their dreams and killing in their sleep and promising that they and their future children never know a moment's peace!

"You have so got to die." Sly and Neyla muttered softly underneath their breath, showing they had enough of Carmelita's big mouth and narrowed their eyes angrily at the threat of toward their future children.

After witnessing his hippo friend pry open the mouth for him, Bentley had just as easily and skillfully leaped over the lasers as he approached Clock-Lita and planted a single bomb on the opposite sides of her beak: destroying the cables inside her mouth that kept the upper beak open and as a bonus, deactivated the lasers.

 _ **"I still have my Hate Chip! You maggots will never end me...NEVER!"**_ Carmelita's holographic face screamed out, claiming that even though her body was damaged and defenses were all gone, she still had the Hate Chip and swore they would never destroy/kill her before her digital face vanished and revealed the chip etched in the center of the maw, which was what projected the corrupt vixen's face.

"That's what you think...bitch." The turtle muttered underneath his breath, showing he also had enough of the fallen vixen's mouth before removing the Hate Chip.

"Quick you guys! Let's get out of here, she's gonna explode!" Bentley shouted out, advising his friends to get to a safe distance as Clock-Lita's entire body was about to explode from all the damage it took during the battle against Jack's attack helicopter and impact from the crash!

But before he could step out of the defeated robotic owl's maw...that was when something truly unexpected happened: the upper beak had collapsed and fell hard onto the turtle's back!

"AHHH! My glasses!" He cried out as the weight of the beak falling down on him had caused a massive surge of pain erupt throughout his small body and his vision had became blurred due to the lenses of his glasses being shattered while Neyla and Sly stared shocked/horrified after witnessing the beak falling down on their friend/tech support!

"Wha...Bentley?! I'll save you!" Murray cried out, shocked and horrified himself after witnessing the upper beak fall down on his turtle friend and immediately pried the mouth open again after hearing his painful scream while their raccoon and tigress friends ran over to see how hurt Bentley was...and stared speechless after seeing him laying motionless flat on his stomach.

"P-P-Pick me up...I-I can't walk!" The turtle requested softly, asking the hippo to carry him as he couldn't feel or move his legs...much to his friend's complete shock and Neyla covered her mouth in pain/guilt...as Bentley was now paraplegic, he would never be able to walk ever again! Murray did as his crippled and paralyzed friend asked, gently picking him up and carrying him in his arms before turning to break into a fast run.

"C'mon you guys, let's get outta here!" The hippo ordered, telling his friends to run as explosions were erupting all over Clock-Lita's/Clockwerk's body and the two lovers didn't need to be told twice: as they broke into a fast run alongside their friend as he carried a semi-conscious Bentley in his arms and once they were at a safe enough distance...Clock-Lita exploded, sending all the Clockwerk Parts scattered in the river!

 _'And there we were...at the end of the road. The Klaww Gang had been defeated and the Clockwerk Parts laid scattered around in heaps...and yet, despite the explosion...they remained pristine. It was as if nothing could ever damage let alone, destroy them.'_ Sly mentally stated to himself as he Neyla, Murray and Bentley, while drifting in and out of consciousness stood in the outskirts of Paris, staring directly at the burning ruins of Arpeggio's destroyed blimp and scattered Parts of the ancient owl floating in the river and couldn't help but notice that the Parts didn't have a single scratch on them: as if they never took any damage from the aerial battle, impact of the crash or explosion...which was when they glanced over their shoulders as they witnessed Jack landing his helicopter not too far behind them.

"Sly, Neyla! Are you and your friends..." The wolf detective called out before exiting his chopper and approached the raccoon and his friends...but not before gasping softly after seeing the state Bentley was in as Murray carried him in his arms.

"Is...is he...?" He asked softly, hoping that their turtle friend was alright as he noticed his eyes opening and closing his eyes every few seconds, showing he was indeed still alive.

"He's alright Jack...but's he's paralyzed...from the waist down." Neyla answered for her raccoon lover and hippo friend: as Sly glanced down in shame, blaming himself for allowing Bentley to retrieve the Hate Chip, as his reflexes were much quicker and Murray had choked back sobs as tears were running down his eyes, as he also blamed himself for not bothering paying attention and keeping the beak open...which would've prevented the loss of Bentley's legs.

"Oh god...I'm so sorry. I truly am." Howlett stated softly, offering his former training partner and her teammates his condolences for the state Bentley was in and performed a hand motion, the Sign of the Cross: raising his right hand, bringing the pointer and middle finger to his forehead, to his heart and running the two digits across his chest, right to left...showing or suggesting he raised Catholic.

"Thanks Jack. We deeply appreciate it." Sly stated softly as he, Neyla and Murray smiled as their secret ally on the force had prayed for Bentley to recover from this tragic and unfortunate incident and shook hands with the wolf detective to show they appreciated his concern for their paralyzed friend,

"Where's that bitch Fox?" He asked, wondering where the corrupt vixen was...but knew with out a doubt that she was dead, as he heard the explosion and spotted the scattered Clockwerk Parts floating in the river.

"Dead...the only remains of both that double crossing traitor and Clockwerk is this..." The raccoon answered plain and simple, confirming his hunch by stating that Carmelita was no longer among the living and showed Howlett the only remnant of her, which was also the main source of power that kept the ancient robotic owl alive for centuries: the Hate chip...before coldly dropping the small handheld device on the grainy soil.

"Never again Fox..." Jack stated plain and simple before raising his right leg up and brought his foot down hard, shattering the chip into dust while Sly, Neyla, Murray and Bentley watched and felt a deep sense of relief wash over them: as the final remains of both Clockwerk and Carmelita was destroyed.

"Sly. Murray, Jack ...look." The tigress stated softly as she glanced directly at the river and her friends quickly followed her gaze towards the water...and gasped in surprise at what was happening before their eyes.

What did our heroes see? All the Clockwerk Parts floating in the river, they had immediately began to rust and corrode the moment Howlett had destroyed the Hate Chip: as if time had finally caught up with the ancient owl. The grin on Sly's face simply grew larger as he softly wrapped his arm around his tigress lover and Neyla immediately returned the gesture, as the curse of Clockwerk was finally over and they never had to worry about the robotic owl ever returning to harm the children they would one day have in the future.

"Neyla...I'm sorry to tell you and Sly this...especially at this time..." The wolf detective stated softly in a regretful tone, apologizing as he had troubling news to share with his former training partner and her raccoon lover.

"What's the matter?" The tigress asked softly, even though she and her lover knew the answer and their hunch would soon be confirmed.

"After I received the email you sent me about Carmelita betraying Arpeggio and merging with Clockwerk's body...I...I had no choice but to show it to Barkley. Once he read the contents of the email...he went ballistic. He was furious to learn that Fox had betrayed him, their entire office and had became monster. Before Barkley allowed me to take the chopper to assist you guys in stopping and destroying that traitor...he also gave me charge of bringing you and your team in." Howlett answered, revealing that once he received their email...he showed it to Barkley and his badger boss...was furious beyond words after learning of Carmelita's deception and corruption and before he allowed him to take the attack helicopter...he placed him in charge of capturing the wily raccoon and his team, much to their disbelief!

"So...that's it then huh Jack?" Sly asked in a somewhat sarcastic tone, while masking what he was really feeling: which was saddened that he would have to repeat the exact cat and mouse routine he went through with Carmelita with the wolf detective he came to greatly respect and think of as a friend.

"No...I'm going to let you and your friends go Cooper." Jack countered, stating he was actually going to allow him, Neyla and Murray to escape and get Bentley medical help!

"What?" Murray asked deeply surprised, baffled by the fact that the wolf detective was actually going to let them get the injured/paralyzed turtle to a hospital instead of arresting them, right here and now when the had the chance!

"You're letting us go? Just like that?" The raccoon asked equally surprised, as he didn't expect Howlett to allow them walk away and getting their friend medical attention!

"Jack..." Neyla whispered softly, just as surprised as her lover that her former training partner would risk his career as the Fugitive Recovery Unit's best operative to allow them to escape before Barkley and local police arrived.

"I may not agree with what you and your friends do for a living Neyla, targeting and ripping off high level international criminals...but I respect and like your results: since you guys can do what Interpol and the local authorities can't. You also taught me something rather important when we worked together back in Prague, Sly...which is pretty clear: you're the kind of criminal this world needs. You and your friends don't hurt innocent people...and sometimes rip off the bastards that do." Howlett answered truthfully, stating even though the raccoon and his team were criminals...they were the kind of criminals the word needed: as they didn't rob/harm innocent people and would sometimes target the high level criminals that did and brought them to justice: which was something that not even the local law enforcement and even Interpol could do.

"Barkley and the local cops will be here soon. Take your friend and go, please." He added while glancing over his shoulder, knowing that his ill tempered boss and French police would arrive soon and begged them to escape while they still had the time.

"Thank you." The tigress stated softly while planting a soft kiss on her former training partner and friend's cheek, thanking him for allowing them to escape while Sly smiled...as his faith and trust in the wolf was strongly restored.

"Thanks...you're alright." Her raccoon stated softly while bumping fists with Howlett, showing they were now friends and more importantly: he and his team now had a new ally inside Interpol that they could truly rely and count on and Murray simply nodded, showing he thought of the wolf detective as a friend as well before they walked away with Bentley in the hippo's arms.

"See you and Sly around Neyla." Jack stated softly as he watched the raccoon, tigress and hippo break into a fast run and sprinted as fast as their legs could carry them before glancing to see another Interpol helicopter with Chief Barkley riding in the cockpit and French police cruisers driving at full speed towards his location and smirked softly...as he had the perfect cover story to sell to his boss.

 **A/N: There it is everyone, the second half to the Anatomy for Disaster chapter! I would like to apologize to my loyal reviewers and fellow Fanfic authors for the slight delay. I know that I promised to have the 2nd half posted last Monday or Wednesday...only it took much longer than I had hoped...but I promise it was worth the wait. I should have the final chapter posted some time before the end of March and then I'll begin publishing a sequel: where Sly and his crew, along with new recruits attempt to get into the Cooper Vault. Please be sure to read and review. Until next time, take care. Bye.**


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